Self-driving wheelchairs debut in hospitals and airports [News]

Autonomous vehicles can add a new member to their ranks-the self-driving wheelchair. This summer, two robotic wheelchairs made headlines: one at a Singaporean hospital and another at a Japanese airport. The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, or SMART, developed the former, first deployed in Singapore's Changi General Hospital in September 2016, where it successfully navigated the hospital's hallways. It is the latest in a string of autonomous vehicles made by SMART, including a golf cart, an electric taxi, and most recently, a scooter that zipped more than 100 MIT visitors around on tours in 2016.