For years the Google coders and roboticists working on driverless cars have focused on making sure their creations could drive safely around California roads. Now, comes the next big test: getting regular civilians comfortable passing the wheel to a machine. This month, Waymo, the mobility division created by Google parent Alphabet Inc., is starting a free, experimental service that will ferry people around Phoenix, Ariz.
In preparation, Waymo has added a new suite of hardware and interior designs to its cars, revealed here for the first time, that will help the vehicles see their surroundings better and transmit that information to their occupants. The project's technology chief Dmitri Dolgov says the upgrades will ease passengers' concerns.
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