Autonomous vehicle startup Vay has launched its first commercial mobility service in Las Vegas, Nevada, that uses remote driving, a so-called alternative to autonomous driving.
The teledriving technology was developed and validated to follow industry standards for safe operations on public streets. The service will be available around the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Arts District.
Users order an electric car via the Vay app and the teledriver brings the car to the user via a remotely driven operation. After the vehicle drives to the location, the teledriver drives the car to the next user or parks the vehicle.
The per-minute rental service means the users only pays for the time they use the car. So, it could be used to go to the grocery store or run other errands on the way to another destination. The price is $0.30 per minute when driving and $0.03 per minute for stopovers.
It is an interesting, alternative take to ridehailing services and other robotaxi services that have cropped up in recent years, specifically in Las Vegas where numerous companies are conducting pilot projects like Amazon’s Zoox and Motional, the joint venture between Aptiv and Hyundai.
How it works
The teledriving technology allows a driver to remotely drive a vehicle without being inside of it. Vay said it was the first to do this approach to driverless vehicles on public roads in Europe.
These teledrivers sit at a station with a steering wheel, pedals and other vehicle controls that meet automotive industry standards. Inside the cars are camera sensors that are transmitted to the screens of the teledrive station. Road traffic sounds like emergency vehicles and other warning signals are transmitted via microphones to the driver’s headphones.
