I remember, back in my days at Singularity University, we talked about how Lidar (the laser-based technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and measuring the reflected light – and hence became instrumental in allowing a robot, e.g. a self-driving car, to “see” its surroundings) would become cheap and ubiquitous. It took a while, but now we are (finally) there – Lidar units are now available for less than $200.
When cost stops being the dominant objection, automakers will have to decide whether leaving lidar out is a technical judgment or a strategic one.
True. And a nice jab at our friend Elon, who famously rejected Lidar in favor of (much cheaper) cameras.
