A new technology called Parkmate from Siemens VDO promises to end the problem of finding a parking space. Parkmate will also park your car in the space it finds. The Daily Telegraphdescribes a test drive of the parking technology.
Cruising slowly up a suburban street in Regensburg, southern Germany, it did not take long for the test car - a BMW estate - to spot a space.
Having worked out the geometry, Parkmate made a reassuring melodic chime, which tells the driver to stop and let the car steer itself into the gap. Then, as if by magic, the steering wheel turned and the BMW sidled inches past the car next to it and into the space - before hitting the kerb and mounting it.
In fairness it was a very low kerb.
Attempt number two was similar to the first. One interested spectator was the owner of the blue car at the back of the space.
The second test drive found another parking spot and the car did hit the curb again but managed to fit into the spot with a little help from the Telegraph test driver. If the car is hitting curbs what will happen when two cars with Parkmate-enabled vehicles compete for the same spot? Once the kinks are worked out this could be a promising technology -- especially for the parallel parking impaired. The Telegraph says the technology is expect sometime in 2008. (via The Raw Feed)
A new technology called Parkmate from 
