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Look Ma, No Hands! Chevy Debuts New Self-Driving Concept Car

© ChevroletThe Chevy FNR self-driving concept car, unveiled this week at the Shanghai auto show, has car fanatics swooning over its sleep design, "dragonfly" doors and eye-scanning door locks.
The Chevy FNR self-driving concept car, unveiled this week at the Shanghai auto show, has car fanatics swooning over its sleep design, dragonfly doors and eye-scanning door locks. - Sputnik International
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The Chevy FNR self-driving concept car, unveiled this week at the Shanghai auto show, has car fanatics swooning over its sleek design, "dragonfly" doors and eye-scanning door locks.

The "futuristic capsule design" is the work of  GM's Shanghai-based Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, but the shape and the look aren't the only futuristic part of this car. 

A radar mounted on the car's roof would, in theory, map out the area to create a path for the autonomous car to whisk its passengers along. 

And since keys would no doubt be much too mundane for this vehicle, an iris recognition system authenticates the identity of the driver.

© ChevroletThe "dragon-fly" doors will swing open only for the right irises, which sounds like a really good excuse not to lend the car to friends.
The dragon-fly doors will swing open only for the right irises, which sounds like a really good excuse not to lend the car to friends. - Sputnik International
The "dragon-fly" doors will swing open only for the right irises, which sounds like a really good excuse not to lend the car to friends.

The FNR (which stands for Find New Roads) has nearly open hubless wheels — each of which is to have its own electric motor. The drivetrain electric charging system is wireless. 

Though a fully operational system won't be hitting the roads soon, GM has already used some of the technology necessary for such a system in its vehicles, like blind spot warnings and lane change alerts, John Capp, GM’s global director of safety strategies and vehicle programs, told Fortune magazine. 

"It’s a step-by-step progression—some of the things we introduced in 2010 and 2011 are now trickling down into our production cars."

© ChevroletThe seats of the FNR will detect things like passengers’ heart rates and temperature to adjust the heating and cooling. They're also lightweight and futuristic, assuming that in the future no one will want headrests.
The seats of the FNR will detect things like passengers’ heart rates and temperature to adjust the heating and cooling. They're also lightweight and futuristic, assuming that in the future no one will want headrests. - Sputnik International
The seats of the FNR will detect things like passengers’ heart rates and temperature to adjust the heating and cooling. They're also lightweight and futuristic, assuming that in the future no one will want headrests.

When the car is open, there's only a thin roof beam along the top. When closed, the door panels form a transparent canopy to create a wrap-around view for those inside. 

The panels on the dashboard, when not being used for manual control of the car, display road and driving information or entertainment. 

© Chevrolet"The Chevrolet FNR is loaded with a range of intelligent technologies usually seen only in science fiction movies," according to Chevy, including gesture controls on the dashboard, and apparently no steering wheel at all.
The Chevrolet FNR is loaded with a range of intelligent technologies usually seen only in science fiction movies, according to Chevy, including gesture controls on the dashboard, and apparently no steering wheel at all. - Sputnik International
"The Chevrolet FNR is loaded with a range of intelligent technologies usually seen only in science fiction movies," according to Chevy, including gesture controls on the dashboard, and apparently no steering wheel at all.

Chevy maintains that the driver will be able to take control of the car whenever they want, though the details on how steering with gesture controls works are fuzzy. 

But, "for drivers who like an edgier performance experience, the FNR will be able to tighten its suspension and execute tight turns while hitting high but legal speeds", Chevy told Fortune. 

© ChevroletIf you fancy a face-to face chat with your passengers, the FNR - like Mercedes-Benz's self-driving F 015 - has front seats that can rotate 180 degrees so that all passengers can face each other while the car continues on it's path to making drivers irrelevant.
If you fancy a face-to face chat with your passengers, the FNR -  like Mercedes-Benz's self-driving  F 015 - has front seats that can rotate 180 degrees so that all passengers can face each other while the car continues on it's path to making drivers irrelevant. - Sputnik International
If you fancy a face-to face chat with your passengers, the FNR - like Mercedes-Benz's self-driving F 015 - has front seats that can rotate 180 degrees so that all passengers can face each other while the car continues on it's path to making drivers irrelevant.

Other big auto manufacturers like Mercedes Benz are working on autonomous vehicles, as are Google, Uber, Apple and Tesla, to name a few. 

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