Unmentioned in the article is that 'Steve' is Daniel Steve Mahan, who's 95% blind. He's CEO of the Santa Clara Blind Center: http://www.visionbeyondsight.org/About-Staff.htm
OK so Google Labs is shut down and Google starts charging for various APIs but decides the world needs to be a better place so invests into this? I'm skeptical (even though I think this is AWESOME). What's the real story here?
Is it the extra eyeball time they get by having self-driving cars? Whereas in the past people would spend 20-60 minutes, or more, concentrating exclusively on driving each day, they could now spend that time online? I guess growth at Google is difficult when you're already the most popular search engine in the world and there's a fixed 24 hour day, the best you can do is change the % of that time people spend online, and implicitly, using your search engine. No doubt the front-end will feature Internet connectivity with a Google portal.
1. Licensing fees from manufacturers for the patents, designs, etc. [once the tech is street-ready and approved]
2. Contextual/location-based ads as you drive around?