The website's co-founder, Sergey Brin, recently announced that ten percent of the company is working on innovative projects outside the web domain, the first of which is the building of "autonomous" cars. The driverless vehicles would travel through normal roads under the instruction of computers and would help people to combat congestion.
"There are a lot of people who can't get around, whether you have a disability, whether you're old or you're young," Fox News quoted Brin, as saying.
"There's also just incredible urban congestion caused by the need for parking. There's highway congestion because humans don't accurately drive on roads with smaller spacing. There's a tremendous opportunity to improve the world," he added.
According to the report, the car works using a rotating 75,000-dollars laser on its roof called a "lidar" that gives a 360-degree, 3D understanding of the car's surroundings that is accurate to two centimeters.
A computer in the trunk compares this information with known maps, and as a result, the car knows every road and traffic light.
The car is also capable of reacting to other cars and pedestrians, in any weather conditions and at any time of day.
Brin said that autonomous cars successfully completed a "1,000-miles challenge," in which they drove through a complex route including city streets and fast highways without human intervention.
But he also said the project remains in the research and development stage and will not go on sale for some time.
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