Audi Has Created An Autonomous Driving Simulator, But Why?

Most petrolheads will agree that autonomous driving is probably going to be the beginning of the end. More and more people are opting for ride sharing services as opposed to owning and driving a car themselves (and why wouldn't they, with issues like congestion and a lack of parking?)- and the logical conclusion is that autonomous driving will eventually take over. We can be dragged kicking and screaming into the future, but we might as well be dragged in a comfortable car- which is why Audi has developed an Autonomous Driving Simulator. 

The point of the simulator is to study how people function in an autonomous car that is taking a simulated drive through a night-time cityscape. There is no steering wheel, nor are there controls- but people can still use the internet or interact with other occupants, or just plain old work. The simulator also measures EEG (or brain activity), so as to see how distracted occupants are by the simulated surroundings.

Eventually, all of this research will be used to help improve autonomous cars and make them more effective at being... living rooms. Or something. But the point remains: if we're going to have our steering wheels taken away from us, we might as well be in a nice car that's fine tuned for the task of autonomous driving.