Jaguar Land Rover has slapped some weird quasi-googly eyes on a self-driving pod.
In traditional Brit-humor fashion, it's called the Virtual Eye Pod.
As a pedestrian waits to cross a fake road, the pod rolls up and its "eyes" focus on the pedestrian.
Researchers then gauge the trust level in the pedestrian that the pod will let the human cross without issue.
It's all part of a larger study meant to investigate the interactions between self-driving vehicles and pedestrians, and whether or not replicating human behavior in the vehicles will help foster that trust.
Jaguar Land Rover says that, based on prior studies, nearly two-thirds of pedestrians and cyclists said they would feel less safe sharing the road with a self-driving vehicle.
There is something very unnerving about a vehicle with eyes on it.
I hope this never leaves the laboratory.