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This could be your first autonomous vehicle

While Google's autonomous fleet of robot cars prowls Silicon Valley and gets all the press, the first, or one of the first, truly autonomous vehicles you may ride in could be something like this: The humble, people-moving Navia. Developed by a French company called Induct, the Navia is ringed with laser beams (not frickin' laser beams. Ed.) that help it navigate through city streets or college campuses without the aid of a track in the ground, a rail or even GPS (GPS is not accurate enough, Induct says).

Reproducing reality – X-Rite’s Total Appearance Capture

Total Appearance Capture isn't some sinister new form of identity theft but a revolutionary method of digitizing physical models using a new scanning technology, with the ability to capture extraordinary detail and all input and output light. The system, from coatings color measurement experts X-Rite, combines color, texture, gloss and other surface characteristics into a digital material ‘description' that can be imported directly to computer-aided design programs. What sets it apart from previously available methods is its ability to collect information on complex materials such as textiles, leather, basketwork, stone, coatings and plated finishes, in a 3D scene lit by a virtual studio environment.

Rolls Royce to set up shop in South America

Rolls Royce showrooms planned in South America The paradox of the current economic malaise  is that luxury goods – and luxury cars in particular - seem immune from the problems of the mainstream. Rolls Royce – to many still the epitome of luxury motoring – is doing very well, and is now planning an expansion in to South America. The cynical may say that Rolls Royce want a piece of the drug money floating round South America in their coffers, but South America is far more than a bunch of drug barons freely spending illicit cash.