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Comment by joshe | Hacker News Reader

My grandmother had Alzheimer's, and was often asking me, a 12 year old kid, to take her places. The zoo, "mom's house", Betsy's, school, and "the store". Often 5 different places within 30 minutes.

With self driving cars and a voice interface...

I have this crisp mental image of thousands of older people wandering city roads as their cars try to get them to their imaginary destinations.

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I could imagine safety features, as part of the car's OS, such as: "if grandma wants to go somewhere, take her for a 10 minute ride around town and return home".

On the other hand, nostalgists might keep them occupied.

"The nostalgist is an interior designer specializing in recreating memories for retired people. Rather than settling for a typical ‘retirement village’ experience where everyone’s apartment looks the same, the wealthy elderly of 2030 will have the luxury of living in a space inspired by their favourite decade. Nostalgists recreate the setting of their preferred time and place for seniors wishing to relive their past, from a small-town 1970s living room to a 1980s university dorm room."

Better yet, the embedded AR displays in the glass will just flip to VR mode and give her a virtual ride without leaving the garage...

My grandparents had it as well, and I recall a time they called my uncle because they'd gotten themselves to Menards but then couldn't remember where they where and needed him to get them back home.

I wonder if they could have brought a fob that had addresses saved under names ahead of time. Get in the car, tell it to take them home, and it reads the address of "home" off of the fob.

Of course, then there's the issue of payment and them needing to independently keep track of their money, but it's a start maybe?

That's an interesting thought (also imagine really drunk or high people giving instructions to their car).

Sounds like something out of Black Mirror.

Las Vegas!

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