In this week's worldwide wrap, Volkswagen jumps on the environmental bandwagon to try and cover its tracks, Tesla unveils a new autopilot feature, and self-balancing scooters are declared illegal on British roads.
VW talks electric to recover from scandal
Seemingly fumbling to regain favour after the massive diesel emissions scandal revealed last month, the carmaker is discussing plans to implement electric car technology.
Last month it was publicly revealed that Volkswagen had been falsifying emissions tests results, misleading regulators and customers alike about the environmental impact of its cars.
Via: Wired
Tesla's new autopilot changes lanes by itself
The electric carmaker's new autopilot system facilitates cars autonomously changing lanes.
Despite the system's range of autonomous features, however, drivers are warned to keep their hands on the wheel at all times, in case they need to intervene.
Via: The Guardian
'Hoverboards' illegal on pavements and roads
Self-balancing scooters, or 'hoverboards', are illegal to ride in public in Britain, according to the British Crown Prosecution Service.
The Segway-like vehicles are too unsafe for roads or pavements, and only legal to ride on private property, with the property owner's permission, the service says.
Via: The Guardian
Contraption makes bikes sound like trotting horses
Trotify offers bicyclers a new and quirky way to alert nearby pedestrians of their presence: by making the user's bike sound like a trotting horse.
The wooden contraption, fitted onto the front of the bicycle's brake assembly, uses coconut shells, levered up and down by the bike wheels' rotation, to make a cinematic sound like horses' hooves on a cobbled street.
Via: Mashable
Children's storytelling comes to VR
The story of Henry the Hedgehog is a CGI animation, experienced via virtual reality, aiming to teach children about acceptance and accommodation.
The virtual reality storytelling experience is engineered by Facebook's Oculus.
Via: Mashable
Chrome extension lets users hijack friends' browsers
Shove, a new extension to Google's Chrome browsers, lets users create a list of friends who are allowed control of one of their browser tabs.
While the extension lets friends easily share links or also play friendly tricks on one another, it could also allow users to easily infect one another's devices with malware. Tim Moynihan of Wired calls it an "Internet trust fall".
Via: Wired
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