At last, the car that drives itself

Audi showed off its A7 model with Piloted Driving at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the leading global showcase of new technology.

Among the futuristic gadgets premiered was the autonomous car, which uses radars and lasers to allow drivers to relax and let the vehicle take control in traffic slower than 40mph.

Although the Audi model is a prototype, the technology has been described as “near-production-ready”.

Some experts predict the autonomous cars will be dominant on the roads by as soon as the middle of this century.

As well as the driverless car, visitors to the show also saw the “surrogate mother” device which can keep tabs on the activities of a whole household.

Tech firm Sense’s Mother gadget uses motion cookies – portable sensors which can be attached to any object, animal or person – to track details like movement and temperature.

That means they can check whether users have taken their medication, had the right amount of water to drink or slept enough hours.

Information gathered is transmitted back to the Mother and it is thought could be used for purposes including monitoring for intruders or fitness tracking.

Another of the health products to get a technological twist at the show was an intelligent electric toothbrush.

The French-made Kolibree toothbrush keeps tabs on brushing habits and feeds the data into a smartphone app to help users keep their teeth healthy.