Google brought its self-driving car to campus to display in the quad in honor of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Week (STEM week) yesterday, October 22. John Fitch, a Google research and development engineer, spoke to the seventh period classes in the Eagle Theater about Google Glass and mentioned the car. His associate explained the car’s functions to interested students outside.

While the main focus was the Google Glass project, which pairs monocle-esque glasses with technology that allows you to access your email, take photos and much more, Fitch briefly introduced the self-driving car. Google initiated the self-driving car project in 2010 to “make driving safer, more enjoyable, and more efficient.”

“I think the concept itself is amazing for those who have trouble seeing,” junior Caroline Tang. “However, I feel like it’s not quite the kind of step we should be focusing on because one can still have the same sort of transportation through a bus or a train. A self-driving car basically eliminates the point of owning a car.”

California, Nevada and Florida have already passed laws to make the self-driving cars legal but the car is still undergoing rigorous testing. According to Google’s Youtube video, the cars have undergone over 200,000 miles using only computer technology by the date the video was posted this year, March 28.