People ride in self-driving vehicles away from home to a destination. Then, people ride from their destination to their home. Self-driving vehicles should be smart enough to know when people want a ride home. Automatically knowing when people want a ride home increases the convenience of using self-driving vehicles.
The key is for certain events to trigger a self-driving vehicle to give a person a ride home. For example, a self-driving vehicle can know that a person wants a ride if the person returns to the drop-off location.
We would love to enable you to integrate these helpful features into your autonomous vehicles.
Imagine a self-driving vehicle drops you off in front of a store. You go inside, buy what you need, and then exit the store. The act of returning to the drop-off location can trigger a self-driving vehicle to pick you up.
There is no need to fumble with your phone as you hold shopping bags to request a ride. Just returning to the drop-off location causes a self-driving vehicle to come pick you up.
An added bonus is that you don't have to wonder where the pickup spot is located. For example, many riders are confused about which side of the street is the pickup location or where along a street they should stand to be picked up. Simply returning to the drop-off location removes friction from the process of getting a ride home.
Self-driving vehicles can anticipate when a person will want a ride home by knowing when they checkout at a store. For example, a self-driving vehicle can drop a person off by the entrance of a Target store. The person spends an unknown and varying amount a time shopping inside the Target store, but the self-driving vehicle can anticipate when the person will want a ride by receiving a notification that the person has checked out at the Target store (by purchasing goods at the Target store). The checkout process can prompt the self-driving vehicle to pick up the person in front of the store.
People need a ride home from work on most days. Self-driving vehicles can be smart enough to accurately predict when people are going to leave work. A vehicle circling needlessly near a building's exit can be bothersome. A vehicle arriving exactly when it's needed delights customers.
The key is that the person logging out of her work computer at the end of the day notifies the self-driving vehicle to pick up the person.