Concept self-driving cars by Mercedez

If Mercedes-Benz is right, the car of the future will have a cockpit that looks like a living room, give you the freedom to set up play spaces in the middle of the street, and have more to say to pedestrians than the stereotypical New York cabbie.

It also just might make you seasick., which the company was showcasing at a press event here. The F015 is a self-driving car but with a twist. This isn't a near-term research project into how an autonomous car might work. Instead, the F015 is Mercedes' attempt to explore what such a car might look and act like in 2030.
From left, Melissa Riofrio, Johana Bhuiyan,and Verne Kopytoff, all members of the Bay Area media, prepare to get a ride in the Mercedes Benz F 015 self-driving concept car on the old runway at Alameda Point during a media demonstration on Tuesday, March 17, 2015 in Alameda, Calif. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group) ( Laura A. Oda )

So, Mercedes ditched the top-heavy sensor array that bedecks most autonomous vehicles and focused on human-centered design. With the F015, Mercedes explored the ways in which the interaction between cars and humans could change with autonomous vehicles -- both for those inside the car and those outside.

The first thing you notice about the F015 is that it looks like something out of a science-fiction movie. Although the new car is about the same size as Mercedes' flagship S-Class sedans, it looks long and low and stretched out. In the front and back, it has an arrays of LED lights, rather than dedicated head or tail lights. And its front and rear doors open up in opposite ways automatically at the touch of a button, giving users a wide, unobstructed opening to enter.