Video: VW's Park Assist Vision helps bridge and tunnelers park in the big scary city

Volkswagen is showing off its new Park Assist Vision technology at the Hanover Fair in Germany. Unlike VW's previous attempts, this version of Park Assist is fully automatic. As such, the driver-turned-spectator can stand outside the car while the Passat maneuvers its way into cramped spots with the help of external cameras and proximity sensors. The driver selects his space on the monitor of the navigation system and then sets the vehicle into "P" mode. It's just a trial for now so you'll still have to get by with the ol' bump-smile-n-flirt approach that's gotten you and your Aquanet hair into the city up until now. Video demonstration after the break.

[Via Gizmag]

[Brian @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:37AM]

If they can do this why can't they have "auto-pilot" like on iRobot. Oh that's right, because electronic equipment fails and people would die!

[sinjinn @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:54AM]

works for airplanes

[John @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:41AM]

I can't really tell if you're being serious or not.
The reason why they haven't implemented "auto-pilot" into cars, is because the driver (A.I.) needs to be able to adapt to different situations.
There are a lot of calculation to be done in real-time and when something changes, for example a car crashes in front of your car, the A.I. needs to respond and know precisely what needs to be done in order to avoid the loss of human life. It's not always just a matter of hit the brakes.

[OneLove @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:48AM]

Just about the dumbest, laziest thing i ever heard. Are people that lame? its not like you jump out of the car and run up to your office. You got to stand there like an anal jack ass with your remote. lol.

How about fixing the price of gas or working on a proper substitute instead?

[Nick M. @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:19PM]

or because to develop such a smart A.I. to implement in cars would make that car so expensive that maybe only 2% of the public would be able to afford the damn thing and the company would probably have to fold after 4 years. As much as we love our computers... i dont think the general public is ready to let our cars drive for us.

Yes airplanes have A.I. and auto-pilot... but the pilot and his crew are still in there monitoring all the equipment and having to pay attention to whats going on so that they can take over if they need to. The general public has problems paying attention to the road while talking on the phone and feels its okay to be driving a vehicle and texting someone... general public won't be sitting in the car paying attention to whats going on to be ready to take over at a moments notice...

[Keaton @ Apr 24th 2008 1:27AM]

So who is "at fault" when your car backs into someone else's and you weren't actually driving?

Talk about an insurance nightmare.

[WhyFi @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:38AM]

Should be interesting when someone hacks the parking assist communications...

[AutoTom @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:54AM]

yeah, lets work out what frequency its reverse parking sensors are on and put repeaters all over our car so these cars think parks either side are taken.

i really wouldnt want that in my car... i'd rather park it myself thanks very much

[whatphone @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:42AM]

the way most ppl park i.e. not very well, this wouldn't work anyhow. It's a cool toy though.

not everyone parks in a straight line.

[Homeboy @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:42AM]

Let's wait until the system fails and the car go berserk and drive over someone.

[94 taurus owner @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:55AM]

*silent laugh*

[Alex @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:43AM]

"the ol' bump-smile-n-flirt approach that's gotten you and your Aquanet hair into the city up until now"

i love you Thomas Ricker

[Fuzzball @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:53AM]

I conceded my arguments on parallel parking since most don't seem to encounter it. However, this is where I draw the line. If you can't even park in a normal spot, you need to hand over license now. I'm not interested in waiting 5+ minutes for some mommy to stop her can in the middle of the damn parking aisle while she unloads her two snowflakes then takes off while her car takes 20 tries to park itself because she can't even line up the damn car right in the first place.

[Evan @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:06AM]

So, we can park a car by remotely, but I still can't lower my convertible roof remotely, because someone could get hurt by a folding roof, and not by a car driving itself?

[Yevon @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:24AM]

Well, if your car manufacturer added 50 sensors to your roof for the low, low price of $10,000, you can have your auto-roof. But then a study would come out saying sensors cause cancer and that would be the end of that.

[PQ @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:51AM]

Travelling to the moon, mobile phones, automatic parking... and still we clean our asses with PAPER. By hand. Oh my...

[EdgeOne @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:16AM]

Wow, what a worthless feature.
Here's a couple of suggestions where VW can better spend their effort; make cars that people will actually buy (Phaeton), that are not ugly (the current model lineup), and that actually spend more time on the road than in the service center (unlike my 2000 Jetta and friend's Cabrio). It also wouldn't hurt to give them names the average American can pronounce without assistance (Phaeton, Tourage). Never again will I own a VW. RIP my '71 beetle, '88 Cabriolet, 2000 Jetta.

[anderesp @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:44PM]

i was going to reply with some really good counter points.
but i figure i would just cut to the chase and call you a

douche bag.
have a nice day. :)

[ian9outof10 @ Apr 24th 2008 4:31AM]

Don't blame VW because you yanks can't pronounce a few names.

[EdgeOne @ Apr 24th 2008 12:28PM]

I knew I would get low ranked with some comments, and I'll concede it was a weak post, but if you had been treated as poorly by VW customer service as I had; lost the same amount of money due to their inability to produce a quality vehicle (which was a shock to me based on how well my previous VW cars performed) then maybe you can understand my anger towards VW when I see them spending money and effort on what seems to be silly features instead providing a basic concept: a vehicle that works a reasonable amount of time which was not the case for me and many owners of the early 2000s models.

Since I don't have any other recourse I can only warn others to stay away from their products. Next time I'll try to do it with a little more tact. However if you don't agree, just hit the minus key and move on.

Sincerely,
Yankee Douche Bag (that’s having a nice day)

[Shinigami @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:19AM]

Less stress, less accidents, less repairs, repaints.
Generally speaking - a good thing.

[james_andrews @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:21AM]

Even if this does catch on, it's no good to people who don't have it, cos if the car goes into too small a place other people won't be able to get in to their cars

[Adam @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:55AM]

You can already buy this on a Sharan in Italy and it's fully automatic... What's different about this version?

[ooglek @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:44AM]

Marketing.

[94 taurus owner @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:58AM]

It's in the US.

[Paul @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:58AM]

So now all us city dwellers who have small cars won't be able to get into them because some jackass in some boat used his auto-park to cram it into a compact spot.

Thanks VW!

[buttabean @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:03AM]

i could see in the future we just pull up to the store and hit the park button and the car proceeds to find a parking spot. Same goes for when you want your car to come back. just hit the button and it will find you via gps in the key remote. Now that would be awesome

[mathi @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:59AM]

Exactly what we talked about at work yesterday. Rainy weather, new car. Why can I not hit the remote and the car slowly drives up to the front entrance of our office building.

That would be cool!

Thx
M

[Cscamp20 @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:16AM]

LOL! Now that would be great! Thats what we call "Valet"

This is great for parallel parking! but if you're going to park like the one on the video? come on! Are people that lazy nowadays? He could have just parked the car himself in less than 10 secs.

[nivz @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:18AM]

Well.. if it comes free with my next car I certainly won't be complaining..

[Frank Andeweg @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:22AM]

LOL, I could get in that spot with that car a lot quicker. I would love to see this at word in the center of Paris or somewhere like that.

[94 taurus owner @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:00PM]

Or in DC traffic

Did you mean to say Work, instead of word.

[zkam @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:40AM]

Hmm... at first glance, I thought that was giant BSOD behind the cars in the picture.

[devGuy @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:02AM]

The whole 'auto-parking' strikes me as useless. The technologies that it spawns will likely be useful, though.

[neal @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:05AM]

I like their garage better

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/vws-automated-parking-garage-173049.php

[94 taurus owner @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:52AM]

I'll take that Passat in silver please.

[phlavor @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:22PM]

The day will come when cars drop us off at our destination, go somewhere and park and come pick us up when we need them. I don't know when it's coming, but it's coming. And I can't wait.

[Kooby @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:43PM]

It's called a taxi...

[Matt @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:29PM]

Will it choose the parking space furthest away from the place you want to go, just like my misses does?

I'd have to goto the gym more to make up for all that walking I wont have to do...

[MichaelP @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:36PM]

I could see the handiness of the car backing up into the slot after the driver/occupants have gotten out, then pulling out of the slot on command.

The main benefit is being able to open the doors all the way without any danger of bumping something, especially nice if you have bags to load. While the turning may be needed, because some places don't have wide enough lanes to allow pulling straight in and out, the slot-finding would be less useful. The driver could just indicate with a button the center of the desired slot.

A few questions though.
First, what if two parallel slots are open? Will the car straddle the middle? The video seems to be monitoring the cars, not the lines. (That method will tolerate faded lines and varying slot width, but it would tend to see two slots as just being one very wide slot...)

Second, what if the slots are angled? Not only does the car need to pull in at an angle to the lane, but it does not pull fully parallel to the adjacent cars. Programming could accommodate this, but that's not indicated in the demo.

Third, how does it determine the length of the slot? By assuming the other vehicles are correctly in their slots? If they're not the same length, does it split the difference? It could use proximity if a building is at the end, like the demo, but not in a large lot.

Anyway, it's an interesting concept.

[JACOB @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:51PM]

VW was first marked by hitler

[the_fozz @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:52PM]

I don't see why it has to back into the spot. Backing in makes it so you can drive away easier, but if it's doing all the work, why waste the time?

[94 taurus owner @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:04PM]

Cause you can.

[D K N Y @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:29PM]

By the time you get out of your car to use your remote to park the car, someone else would have taken that spot already

[CaberetVoltaire @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:36PM]

My bicycle does that

[apeguero @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:45PM]

Wow! I used to wonder if something like this would ever be done back in the early 90s. I used to have driver's remorse whenever I'd park at the Mall or other parking lots only to find a parking spot that was closer to the exit. I used to fantasize about my car having KITT abilities where I could call it up to park in that spot. I somehow think we're getting ever so close to that.