It's been 15 years since a degenerative eye disease forced Erich Manser to stop driving. Today, he commutes to his job as an accessibility consultant via commuter trains and city buses, but he has trouble locating empty seats sometimes and must ask strangers for guidance. A step toward solving Manser's predicament could arrive as soon as next year. Manser's employer, IBM, and an independent carmaker called Local Motors are developing a self-driving, electric shuttle bus that combines artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and smartphone apps to serve people with vision, hearing, physical, and cognitive disabilities. The buses, dubbed "Olli," are designed to transport people around neighborhoods at speeds below 35 miles per hour and will be sold to cities, counties, airports, companies, and universities.

Self-driving vehicles are the Holy Grail of the transportation technology of the next age. It's the stuff of science fiction, but it's coming to life. Big companies like Google, Tesla, General Motors, and even the US Government are accelerating research into the field. But it seems like a small startup beat them to the punch. Arizona-based startup Local Motors has just revealed a 3D-printed, autonomous, electric shuttle bus that is partially recyclable.