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Toyota, Audi to show off self-driving cars at CES

The automakers are expected to demonstrate autonomous-driving features next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Toyota's prototype Lexus LS 600h. Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET

Get ready to see more cars on the road without a driver behind the wheel.

Toyota and Audi will demonstrate autonomous-driving features next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Japanese automaker posted a five-second preview video that shows one of its luxury brand Lexus vehicles loaded with various sensors and carrying the caption, "Lexus advanced active safety research vehicle is leading the industry into a new automated era."

An Audi representative also told the Journal that it would be demonstrating similar capabilities at CES 2013, including the ability to locate a parking spot and self-park without a human behind the wheel.

Like the autonomous research cars that Google has been testing since 2009, Toyota's prototype Lexus LS 600h sports what appears to be a roof-mounted laser used to guide the vehicle. It also features radar and camera equipment used to navigate streets without a driver behind the wheel.

These driverless cars are capable of driving to specific locations based on visual indicators, artificial intelligence software, GPS, and a range of sensors. Google, which hired a team of robotics experts to develop the system, has logged more than 300,000 miles on private test tracks.

Nevada, which enacted legislation in 2011 that permits autonomous vehicles on the public roads, issued Google the first license for driverless cars last year -- the first state to issue such a permit.