Driverless Cars: Difference between revisions

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==Problems with the prophecy==
==Problems with the prophecy==
[[File:Driverless cars low res.jpg|right|250px|February 22, 1959 edition of Arthur Radebaugh's Sunday comic strip "Closer Than We Think"]]
[[Image:Driverless cars low res.jpg|thumb|right|250px|February 22, 1959 edition of Arthur Radebaugh's Sunday comic strip "Closer Than We Think"]]
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! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#E2725B;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Video Feature: Egg-shaped Cars?</h2>
! <h2 style="margin:0;background-color:#E2725B;font-size:120%;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid #a3b0bf;text-align:left;color:#000;padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Video Feature: Egg-shaped Cars?</h2>
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In the Laodicean Church Age book, William Branham says, “Now let me say this. Can anyone prove any of those visions wrong? Were they not all fulfilled?”  Almost 70 years after 1933, we now have the benefit of hindsight in our ability to confirm the accuracy of these prophecies.
In the Laodicean Church Age book, William Branham says, “Now let me say this. Can anyone prove any of those visions wrong? Were they not all fulfilled?”  Almost 70 years after 1933, we now have the benefit of hindsight in our ability to confirm the accuracy of these prophecies.


===Changes in the prophecy over time===
=Changes in the prophecy over time=
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|'''[http://en.believethesign.com/index.php/French#La_v.C3.A9rit.C3.A9_pure_et_simple_sur_les_voitures_ayant_la_forme_d.60un_.C5.93uf En Francais]''' <br> La vérité pure et simple sur les voitures ayant la forme d`un œuf.   
|'''[http://en.believethesign.com/index.php/French#La_v.C3.A9rit.C3.A9_pure_et_simple_sur_les_voitures_ayant_la_forme_d.60un_.C5.93uf En Francais]''' <br> La vérité pure et simple sur les voitures ayant la forme d`un œuf.   
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Because the prophecies were written down, each retelling should have been consistent through the years.  However, this is not the case as initially this prophecy is only about egg-shaped cars (1953 - 1957).  After this, the cars are remote-controlled (1958) with a glass roof and no steering wheel, with a family inside (1960) playing cards or checkers. The bumpers had sensors and the car was controlled by radar and magnets (1961).  Finally, in the Church Age Book (CAB), the car has a plastic bubble-top.
Because the prophecies were written down, each retelling should have been consistent through the years.  However, this is not the case as initially this prophecy is only about egg-shaped cars (1953 - 1957).  After this, the cars are remote-controlled (1958) with a glass roof and no steering wheel, with a family inside (1960) playing cards or checkers. The bumpers had sensors and the car was controlled by radar and magnets (1961).  Finally, in the Church Age Book (CAB), the car has a plastic bubble-top.


===Newspaper ads of a driverless car pre-date the first time the vision was told===
==Newspaper ads of a driverless car pre-date the first time the vision was told==


[[Image:1957 driverless cars paleo-future big.jpg|thumb|250px|Newsweek Magazine – December 17, 1956.]]
[[Image:1957 driverless cars paleo-future big.jpg|thumb|250px|Newsweek Magazine – December 17, 1956.]]
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*Church Age Book: Plastic bubble-top car without a sterring wheel on a beautiful road.  The people inside were playing a game.  <ref> The fourth vision showed the great advances in science that would come after the second world war. It was headed up in the vision of a plastic bubble-topped car that was running down beautiful highways under remote control so that people appeared seated in this car without a steering wheel and they were playing some sort of a game to amuse themselves. (Church Age Book)</ref>
*Church Age Book: Plastic bubble-top car without a sterring wheel on a beautiful road.  The people inside were playing a game.  <ref> The fourth vision showed the great advances in science that would come after the second world war. It was headed up in the vision of a plastic bubble-topped car that was running down beautiful highways under remote control so that people appeared seated in this car without a steering wheel and they were playing some sort of a game to amuse themselves. (Church Age Book)</ref>


===Checkers, anyone?===
==Checkers, anyone?==
If this was a legitimate prophecy, why were they playing checkers in a driverless car?  Shouldn't they have been playing a game on a colored screen?  Angry Birds, perhaps?
If this was a legitimate prophecy, why were they playing checkers in a driverless car?  Shouldn't they have been playing a game on a colored screen?  Angry Birds, perhaps?


===Wherefore art thou, steering wheel?===
==Wherefore art thou, steering wheel?==
Believe it or not, the steering wheel was invented after the car.  The first automobile (the Benz Patent-Motorwagen) appeared in 1886, and was guided by a steering tiller.  The steering wheel did not make an appearance until 1894.
Believe it or not, the steering wheel was invented after the car.  The first automobile (the Benz Patent-Motorwagen) appeared in 1886, and was guided by a steering tiller.  The steering wheel did not make an appearance until 1894.


So William Branham's prophecy that science would progress to the point where cars would no longer need steering wheels...is kind of backwards.  How do you drive the car into the driveway if you don't have a steering wheel?  All driverless cars today have a steering wheel.
So William Branham's prophecy that science would progress to the point where cars would no longer need steering wheels...is kind of backwards.  How do you drive the car into the driveway if you don't have a steering wheel?  All driverless cars today have a steering wheel.


===Timing of the fulfillment===
==Timing of the fulfillment==
[[Image:EggCartoon.jpg|right|250px]]
[[Image:EggCartoon.jpg|right|250px]]
William Branham said in 1964 that this prophecy was already fulfilled, and that companies were taking orders for driverless trucks already that they could control from headquarters.  He also considered the Volkswagen a “perfect egg”.  Time has proven that this prophecy was nowhere near fulfilled in 1964.  William Branham also admits reading articles and a TV show about driverless cars at around the same time that he expands the vision from egg-shaped to driverless cars.   
William Branham said in 1964 that this prophecy was already fulfilled, and that companies were taking orders for driverless trucks already that they could control from headquarters.  He also considered the Volkswagen a “perfect egg”.  Time has proven that this prophecy was nowhere near fulfilled in 1964.  William Branham also admits reading articles and a TV show about driverless cars at around the same time that he expands the vision from egg-shaped to driverless cars.   
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'''William Branham's statements are not true.'''  They did not have the car, and they did not have trucking companies ordering them in 1964.
'''William Branham's statements are not true.'''  They did not have the car, and they did not have trucking companies ordering them in 1964.
 
[[File:1918 16arieff-retrocar-blog427.jpg|right|250px|The 1918 concept car]]
==Industry Commentary==
==Industry Commentary==
*''We could deliver a car to your office [near Tower Bridge] that could drive to Bristol. The technology exists, the problem is liability if there is an accident.'' [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article6792747.ece '''Times Online, Aug. 12, 2009''']
*''We could deliver a car to your office [near Tower Bridge] that could drive to Bristol. The technology exists, the problem is liability if there is an accident.'' [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article6792747.ece '''Times Online, Aug. 12, 2009''']
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*''This is not science fiction...Now the question is what does society want to do with it? You're looking at these issues of congestion, safety, energy and emissions. Technically there should be no reason why we can't transfer to a totally different world."''([http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080107/ap_on_hi_te/gadget_show_driverless_cars Yahoo News, '''Jan 7, 2008'''], Larry Burns, VP of Research and Development for General Motors)
*''This is not science fiction...Now the question is what does society want to do with it? You're looking at these issues of congestion, safety, energy and emissions. Technically there should be no reason why we can't transfer to a totally different world."''([http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080107/ap_on_hi_te/gadget_show_driverless_cars Yahoo News, '''Jan 7, 2008'''], Larry Burns, VP of Research and Development for General Motors)


==Driverless Vehicles==
=Driverless vehicles in the press=
[[File:1918 16arieff-retrocar-blog427.jpg|right|250px|The 1918 concept car]]
[[Image:1958 episode of Disneyland TV series.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The driverless car imagined by Disney in 1958]]
With driver assist technologies being integrated into vehicles today, the promise of a fully autonomous individual vehicle on all or designated roadways is possible.  The main problem is responsibility for liability.   
With driver assist technologies being integrated into vehicles today, the promise of a fully autonomous individual vehicle on all or designated roadways is possible.  The main problem is responsibility for liability.   


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A driverless car (controlled by radio) was first mentioned in Popular Science magazine in its November 1925 issue.  Driverless vehicles were revisited in the magazine on a repeated basis since then. (http://www.popsci.com/)
A driverless car (controlled by radio) was first mentioned in Popular Science magazine in its November 1925 issue.  Driverless vehicles were revisited in the magazine on a repeated basis since then. (http://www.popsci.com/)


In the 1950's, autonomous cars represented the modern life of luxury that was just around the corner and were seen in popular media throughout the 50's and 60's.  
In the 1950's, autonomous cars represented the modern life of luxury that was just around the corner and were seen in popular media throughout the 50's and 60's. Disney also imagined a world of self-driving cars, with a heavy emphasis on leisure. The May 14, 1958 episode of the Disneyland TV series titled "Magic Highway USA" examined the future of transportation, including the future of driverless vehicles, complete with a game of checkers.
 
 


*The research for autonomous vehicles in Japan began in 1977 by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab.   
*The research for autonomous vehicles in Japan began in 1977 by the Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab.   
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==Egg Shaped Cars==
==Egg Shaped Cars==
[[Image:Pivo_1.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Nissan Pivo]]
[[File:1200px-NISSAN cube Z12 rear.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Nissan Cube]]
The egg-shape design always seems sensational, but from its introduction in 1942 has never made its way into mass-production.  The design is not aerodynamic (an egg is designed to exit a chicken's body, not to be thrown), has the potential to crack in the wrong places during a collusion, an does not suppoart fast acceleration.   
The egg-shape design always seems sensational, but from its introduction in 1942 has never made its way into mass-production.  The design is not aerodynamic (an egg is designed to exit a chicken's body, not to be thrown), has the potential to crack in the wrong places during a collusion, an does not support fast acceleration.   


===Oeuf, by Paul Arzen===
As cars have been purposed more for slow traffic in major cities, they have actually become more boxy as this provides more room for the occupants of the vehicle.
*Designed and built in 1942, the L'Oeuf Electric as an electric car shaped like an egg.  It had a plexiglass dome, a large steering wheel, one bench seat, and no table.


===Nissan Pivo===
===Cadbury Creme===
[[File:Creme egg car.jpg|right|thumb|180px|Cadbury Creme]]
[[File:Creme egg car.jpg|right|thumb|180px|Cadbury Creme]]
*One of the stars of the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show, the Nissan Pivo concept is an electric car with drive-by-wire systems and a revolving egg-shaped cabin.  See Nissan's [http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NEWS/2005/_STORY/050930-02-e.html Press Release] for more information.
===Cadbury Creme===
A Cadbury Creme Egg is a chocolate product produced in the shape of an egg. The product consists of a thick milk chocolate shell, housing a white and yellow fondant filling which mimics the albumen and yolk of a real egg.   
A Cadbury Creme Egg is a chocolate product produced in the shape of an egg. The product consists of a thick milk chocolate shell, housing a white and yellow fondant filling which mimics the albumen and yolk of a real egg.