Volvo is adjusting the timeline on its ambitious Drive Me autonomous program until it can find the right sensors. "The development in sensor performance and processor capabilities is going so much faster than we expected in 2013," program director Marcus Rothoff recently told Automotive News Europe. "Because advancements are being made at such a rapid pace, we want to make this decision as late as possible." In addition to the sensors that enable Level 4 autonomy (the car can drive itself, but a steering wheel and pedals are still present), the Swedish automaker is having issues with the wiring. Rothoff said that laying copper has been "a really huge" challenge that was unanticipated at the project's outset in 2013.

As a species, we are excellent at imbuing life into the lifeless--just as we are proficient in giving meaning to the meaningless. One could argue that the ability of our brains to recognize patterns quickly is part of what gives us our humanity. Seeing faces on Mars, yelling at our cars for breaking down and giving animals more agency than they may possess are all results of our psyche. Our penchant for gestalt is important in the ever increasing world of social robots and machines. When it comes to technology and social robotics, the whole is often seen as more meaningful than the sum of the parts. The field of social robotics includes machines that use social behaviors and cues to interact with people.