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Rolls-Royce Unveils First Driverless Car Complete With Silk 'Throne' (theguardian.com) 105

Posted by BeauHD from the save-your-pennies dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Rolls-Royce has unveiled its first driverless vehicle dubbed The Vision Next 100. It is an autonomous vehicle aimed at "the most discerning and powerful patrons in the world." There's no steering wheel but there is a silk "throne" where passengers can sit and stare out the window. Rolls-Royce said the zero-emission model, codenamed 103EX, showed the company "rejects the notion of anonymous, utilitarian and bland future modes of mobility." The owner will be "encircled by the most modern handcrafted fine-line Macassar wood panelling" as they gaze at a "generous" high-definition television display. In addition to the "finest one-off deep-pile ivory wool carpet," the vehicle features a virtual assistant named Eleanor, inspired after the actor Eleanor Thornton. It will be able to remind users about meetings; it will even bring the car around to the front of the owner's house at the start of a journey. "As the Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 gracefully comes to a halt, something magnificent occurs," the company said. The glass roof rises to allow the occupant to stand, while a step emerges from below the running board and a red light is projected, "carpet-like" to announce their arrival. Rolls-Royce did not say how the vehicle would be powered or how much it costs, but it did say it's due to hit the streets in the 2040s. You can watch a 360-degree video of the 103EX the company posted on YouTube.
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Rolls-Royce Unveils First Driverless Car Complete With Silk 'Throne' More

Rolls-Royce Unveils First Driverless Car Complete With Silk 'Throne'

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  • Smart or not... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Lisandro ( 799651 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @08:47PM (#52332865)

    ...thats one fucking ugly car right there.

    • Its way nicer than the trend in round cars that goes back to the early 90s. Its got a bunch of sharp lines, looks like something from batman or a cylon. I really love the look. I always did want a catamaran though.

      Its simply too bad it will cost more than i will make in a lifetime.

    • ...thats one fucking ugly car right there.

      Also, I'm not sure the Flintstone-style square wheels are a terribly good idea. Surely they'll make the ride a bit bumpy?

  • 2040s?!? (Score:3)

    by burtosis ( 1124179 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @08:51PM (#52332887)
    Typically when it's technically infeasible it's 5 years out. Apparently this is at least 5 times that.

    • Re: 2040s?!? (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Well, at least consult the chart before posting...

      Clearly what they're suggesting is that a self-driving throne-car has not been proven conclusively impossible.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      They are worryingly far behind, aren't they? Tesla already has a zero emission car with autopilot. Nissan is supposed to be releasing their basic autopilot this year, although they say it will be at least 2018 before they can do what Tesla does today. And of course Nissan have a zero emission car too.

      I guess RR think they don't have to compete on features because they compete on bling instead.

  • You could... (Score:5, Funny)

    by camperdave ( 969942 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @08:57PM (#52332899) Journal

    You can watch a 360-degree video of the 103EX the company posted on YouTube.

    I could, but the three views I've already seen have caused my eyes to bleed. That is one butt-ugly car. The only way I can rationalize it being a Rolls Royce is that they are so dead set against self driving cars, that they produced this turd-wash to make people gag on the concept of self drive from now on.

  • It will also be the last.

  • Fucking Ugly As Sin (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zenlessyank ( 748553 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @09:04PM (#52332947)
    Holy shit that looks retarded. See what happens when HR works in the design department?? Someone HAS to get fired for this. I'm throwing rocks at it if I see one.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I love how the roof opens so that the occupant can stand up, making it easier for onlookers to hit them with rotten fruit.

  • "due to hit the streets in the 2040s."

    Ah, there's the joke. They're bringing this out long after every other car manufacturer will already be selling autonomous cars. They're promoting their vintage car. By the time it comes out it will be old tech.

    • With that lack of clearance it's literally going to be hitting the streets.

      • With that lack of clearance it's literally going to be hitting the streets.

        I came here to point that out. There's almost zero clearance, and none of the four tires can change direction; this car design can only go forwards and backwards in a straight line.

        I agree with the idea that this is some sort of rich-person joke.

  • silk? (Score:3)

    by iggymanz ( 596061 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @09:20PM (#52333009)

    if it doesn't have fine corinthian leather seats I don't want it.

  • That it is.

    The Homer [nocookie.net] looks much better

  • okay, I give up.

    The summary says it doesn't have a steering wheel. The picture in the linked article shows a steering wheel. What?
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Can take a dump whenever, since you don't have to pay attention to the road. No info on how big the holding tank is, so range might be limited if you bring a lot of snacks on a trip.

  • Sure looks like one in that second picture! Or is that a scroll wheel because it's too far away for a touch screen?

  • LOLWUT? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jtownatpunk.net ( 245670 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @09:47PM (#52333127)

    Rolls-Royce said the zero-emission model, codenamed 103EX, showed the company "rejects the notion of anonymous, utilitarian and bland future modes of mobility."

    While the outside might be flashy, that's the most bland, boring interior I've ever seen in a concept car. That interior looks like it belongs in a sub-$2000 car for some emerging market.

    • The interior is designed for only one purpose. Which is strange because silk stains so easily.

  • In my mind I could see a Rolls Royce engineer compiling that video on a 20 year old supercomputer equivalent to a modern workstation and not noticing the low quality and frame rate because the computer was usually used to design cars. In the background a hastily gathered panel of 50 year old futurists talking to an artist and turning out retrofuture concepts at a rapid clip.

  • Satire? (Score:3)

    by joe_frisch ( 1366229 ) on Thursday June 16, 2016 @10:08PM (#52333205)

    I honestly can't tell if this is a satire piece ore not.

  • I'm pretty sure that a lot of concept cars are created in the same way high fashion is: Create the most absurd, hideous, impractical thing currently imaginable, a thing which wouldn't survive a single day in actual use, then use pretentious jibber-jabber to convince people with more money than sense that it's something they should actually want.

  • 1. Suddenly the Citroen DS-19 [simoncars.co.uk] seems drop-dead gorgeous.

    Hm. On reflection, the older I get, the prettier the DS gets. I may even wind up getting one.. one day.

    2. Silk?! SILK?! REAL cars use leather, always have, always will!

    3. Did RR crib that design from the back of a third-grader's notebook?

  • Anyone that can afford this shit needs a manual drive option for when they need to get away from rioters or assassins.

  • I have to admit, I couldn't be bothered to actually get informed about this new gadget; to me, a car is only ever going to be a tool, and I want to be able to load mine up with useful things like sand, stones, manure and so on. Silk thrones doesn't seem to fit the bill, although I have no experience with using silk in my car.

    That said, Rolls Royces are impressive machines. I once drove beside one on the motorway at around 80 mph and thought, that looked very comfortable and rather sedate. When I looked back

  • Rolls-Royce has unveiled its first driverless vehicle dubbed The Vision Next 100. It is an autonomous vehicle aimed at "the most discerning and powerful patrons in the world." There's no steering wheel but there is a silk "throne" where passengers can sit and stare out the window.

    Second picture on the article shows a center-mounted front seat that look like some crap 1960's "space age" design, nothing royal, and a there most certainly is a steering wheel.

  • With such repugnant phrases such as these:

    “ivory-coloured luxurious throne upon which our passengers are conveyed, and from which they command”.

    “the powerful have always understood the symbols through which they express their standing”

    Ah yes, that'll be the psychopaths who sacrifice everything and everyone to get power and money, then...
    Too bad that we keep electing them.

  • Which makes sense as this is an even more gilded age.

  • What, no fine Corinthian leather?

  • "Rolls-Royce did not say how the vehicle would be powered or how much it costs, but it did say it's due to hit the streets in the 2040s."

    1) It'll cost more than any mere mortal could possibly afford, and

    2) It'l never see the light of day. A 25-year lead time on ANYTHING means it'll never be built and and never come to fruition. FFS, Hoover Dam, the Moon landing, and the Manhattan Project combined didn't take 25 years.

    3) Rolls-Royce is just jerking us off with this bullshit. They might have just as well anno

  • "The Vision Next 100 – the brainchild of Giles Taylor"
    Must have ment brainFART.

  • Why not complement the throne with holographic projections of four Nubian slaves bearing the thing?

  • Not only is that thing ugly AF, the design makes 0 sense... it looks like they just copied and pasted a bunch of parts from other vehicles into this. And even the inside is ugly and non-functional. Those back seats are way too close to the front seats, too. Uncomfortable to look at, uncomfortable to use.
  • " One critic described the Vision Next 100 as ‘butt-ugly’. " hahaha Also, they say it has "no steering wheel" but clearly, it has a steering wheel, unless that is some sort of new concept chair for rich folks ass*s.

  • The owner will be "encircled by the most modern handcrafted fine-line Macassar wood panelling"..

    ..as they careen at high speed into a concrete abutment and die horribly, when the so-called 'autonomous' system fucks up so badly that nothing can save you, yet you have no controls whatsoever with which to save yourself. Nicely done, Rolls-Royce.

  • "Your grand entrance on the red carpet of light."

    Really? Who the eff writes this drivel?

    Might as well read, "drive this and display your flaming narcissism for all to see!"

  • This car has maybe 3" of clearance off the ground. i could see it easily getting stuck pulling in to a parking lot.

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