Who wants to be a self-driving car?

Self-driving cars and autonomous transportation systems are projected to create radical societal changes, yet public understanding and trust of self-driving cars and autonomous systems is limited. The authors present a new mixed-reality experience designed to provide its users with insights into the ways that self-driving cars operate. A single-person vehicle equipped with sensors provides its users with data driven visual feedback in a virtual reality headset to navigate in physical space. The authors explore how immersive experiences might provide ‘conceptual affordances’ that lower the entry barrier for diverse audiences to discuss complex topics.