Tired of actually driving when you are in the car? Google might be on the way to bringing us driverless cars sooner than you think.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Google a patent for its automated future car, VentureBeat's Jolie O'Dell reported.
Google's patent describes "methods and devices for transitioning a mixed-mode autonomous vehicle from a human driven mode to an autonomously driven mode."
Basically, the car would get to its destination using just a QR code, GPS or a URL -- no steering wheel action necessary.
"Some autonomous vehicles may operate in non-autonomous mode where they can be driven similar to traditional human-controlled vehicles," the patent describes.
Google said it already has seven prototypes in operation. And last year alone the cars drove 140,000 miles with "only occasional human control," the New York Times reported. They even made it down Lombard Street and across the Golden Gate Bridge.
If you want some futuristic reading material, check out Google's full patent here. Just don't read it while driving your old-fashioned car.
