I know this might seem like a naive question but, is there any requirement for a driverless car to have windows at all? perhaps a biological or neurological dependency?
Hence passenger windows in airplanes, even though this is structurally problematic and requires expensive reinforcement around the windows.
Not to mention windows in metro systems that are entirely underground.
It’s just a comfort thing. Removing it would likely decrease customer demand.
Wonder how people would react to that.
This concept has been brought up numerous times and has never taken off (ha). I don’t think passengers would react well unless it was literally indistinguishable from a window, and we’re a long way from that.
Would projecting the outside world on the inside of a tin-can car meet the benefits ascribed to windows? (I could imagine some dystopian future where windowed cars are considered to be luxury items).
The motion-sickness reducing benefits of staring at the horizon is usually ascribed to the horizon being very far away and not moving along with the car. Until your projections are holographic, it won't help.
The up front cost of a vehicle is something like 1/3 of the cost per mile (probably less for commercially operated vehicles), so even a pretty big decrease in the purchase price will only have a moderate impact on overall cost.
* mitigation of motion sickness
* mitigation of claustrophobia
* free lighting
* they're using a standard car body, or they could have not put the mechanical steering wheel in
Also, for most passengers in a driverless car, windows would be important. As many humans (including myself) get motion sickness if they have no reference of the outside world.
1. Good weather, sub-freeway speeds. Large parts of the US (and the world) have good weather for most of the year.
2. Going uphill in hot weather, where running the AC would put too much strain on the engine
Easier to get out of the vehicle in case of emergencies, when the door is stuck, or easier to see which side of the vehicle is unsafe to exit, easier for humans to take over in emergencies when they have vision outside of the vehicle.
Similar reasons apply to any vehicle which is not driven by you. Bus, airplane, train...
Yes, it is a naive question.