One of the reasons I became an engineer is the feeling I get when I see technology improving a life that has had limitations imposed upon it for whatever reason and how that technology lets the person perform tasks they could never do without it. Such is the case with Steve Mahan and the Google self-driving car project. As Google wrote in their YouTube posting,
"We announced our self-driving car project in 2010 to make driving safer, more enjoyable, and more efficient. Having safely completed over 200,000 miles of computer-led driving, we wanted to share one of our favorite moments. Here's Steve, who joined us for a special drive on a carefully programmed route to experience being behind the wheel in a whole new way. We organized this test as a technical experiment, but we think it's also a promising look at what autonomous technology may one day deliver if rigorous technology and safety standards can be met."
What makes this story so interesting is that Steve is legally blind, with a 95% loss of vision. He can never pass the vision test for a license to drive a vehicle.
