High-tech cars not just for Spider-Man, Tony Stark

Iowa Now - Research

An actor dressed as Spider-Man arrives for the world premiere of 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif.(Photo: Joe Scarnici, Getty Images for Audi)In the newest Spider-Man movie, wise-cracking Peter Parker passes his driving exam primarily with help of a prototype Audi borrowed from a billionaire super-friend.As he argues with the driving examiner, the 15-year-old fails to notice the car in front of him slow down. The car’s automatic emergency braking system kicks in, stops the car and avoids a collision.Showing off for the examiner, the secret web-slinger engages the car’s lane-keeping system — only be yelled at as soon as he takes his hands off the wheel.And when asked to perform the “grand finale” of the driving test — parallel parking — the teenage superhero hits a button, raises his arms, and lets the car maneuver itself into position along the curb.For Dan McGehee of the University of Iowa, the only thing far-fetched about the two-minute movie scene is the idea that such technology is available only in high-end vehicles for the super-rich.“We’re very far from self-driving cars, but today we are in production for all of the technologies that are mentioned there — down to the least expensive car," he said in a phone interview Tuesday. "Whether it’s the Toyota Corolla, the Honda Civic, the Chevy Cruze, (the Ford Escort,) all have automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping systems, and even automatic parallel parking available.”Buy PhotoDaniel McGehee, director of the National Advanced Driving Simulator, poses at the University of Iowa's facility in Coralville on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (Photo: David Scrivner / Iowa City Press-Citizen)McGehee, who directs UI’s National Advanced Driving Simulator, attended the Automated Vehicle Symposium last week in San Francisco.“The 2018 model is going to be a watershed year in which many of the technologies in this clip will ...

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