How is Singapore developing itself into a smart nation?

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Visitors typically flock to Gardens by the Bay for its beautiful flowers and unique architecture. But for a while now, some have been visiting the gardens for a very different reason.

Driverless auto-riders are attracting around 80 passengers a day, for short but unique rides between the gardens’ many attractions.

While there are only two of these sleek vehicles in operation, management say they have helped boost business.

“We’re the first in Southeast Asia, so there is quite a lot of hype about it, to the point that people actually come to the gardens asking for the vehicle,” says Ralf Gresch, director of Visitor Services at Gardens by the Bay.

Street view of Singapore /VCG Photo

Gresch also said that the driverless vehicle is equipped with a backup driver who offers services, such as answering passengers' queries and ensuring that the journey goes well.

Singapore hopes to become a leader in driverless technologies. “Our land transport constraints may help us become a global player in urban mobility solutions. What works here is likely to also work in other cities,” Singapore’s Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said last November when launching a test center for autonomous vehicles.

The center allows developers to test how their autonomous cars and buses would handle pedestrians, heavy rain, aggressive drivers, cyclists, scooters and other road scenarios. At least 10 companies are currently testing driverless car technology in Singapore.

Apart from autonomous vehicles, health and aging issues are another big part of Singapore’s agenda in its Smart Nation initiative.

Over at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, plans are already underway for another smart solution tailored for the ageing population in the city-state. The school created a robot in 2015 that helped to keep the elderly healthy through exercise.

Singapore introduces RoboCoach to keep older citizens in shape. /CGTN Photo

“Contrary to our initial concerns that the seniors may hesitate to accept the robots, they are actually very happy and grateful to exercise with it. They feel proud to use this latest technology and to not have been left out in the digital world,” Li Yinbei, RoboCoach project supervisor says.

Moving forward, they hope to see RoboCoach visiting individual homes, not only to improve the senior citizen’s physical health, but also to improve their mental and social wellbeing.