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There's the oldest jokes of them all: it is, of course, the Trabant, the car for Eastern Germany.

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And the old jokes: How do you double the value of a Trabant? Fill it up with petrol.

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Why do Trabants have heated rear windows? To keep your hands warm as you push the car down the road.

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Jokes aside, many Germans -- in fact, many people in Central and Eastern Europe -- still have a soft spot for the classic car of East Berlin.

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It's a far cry from the Made in Germany, the high-tech concept car that is so sophisticated.

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And recently, as part of our Future Cities,

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I was in Berlin, and for the first time -- I've never seen it before -- I saw a car that drove itself.

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This is the Trabant, that powerful symbol of Communist life.

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Better than a bike, it was durable and affordable motorized wheels. It was the pride of East Berlin.

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This smoke-belching, oil-guzzling little car lacked the most basic of features, such as brake lights or turn signals. 

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Yet, the Trabi was the pride of the country, close to people's hearts.

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So, when the Berlin Wall fell, thousands of East Germans drove their Trabants across the border. It became a symbol of liberation.

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Today, wheels of liberation has a different meaning: liberating the driver. 

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Look! No hands! No feet! This computer-controlled car is driving itself, right now negotiating its way through the heart of Berlin.

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We think that this can be the car of the future; it would be like a taxi. 

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You don't even need to own a car, you don't have to park the car, you don't need a garage at home.

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The idea is to unclog the streets. You can move the complete city of Berlin combining public transportation with autonomous taxis.

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Made in Germany began life here, in a research laboratory of Berlin's Freie University. 

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Professor Rojas and his team test the artificial intelligence technology with soccer-playing robots.

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This is one of our earlier humanoids, and you can always see there is a camera. 

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The camera captures the field, and then you have to process the information as humans do when they are seeing.

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A regular car is enhanced with sophisticated lasers, radar, video cameras and a very sensitive GPS system. It can think on its own.

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The computer knows the traffic rules. It knows that it has to stop if the traffic light is red.

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What's incredible about this driverless car is that it's allowed out in public. 

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It took years to persuade Berlin's authorities it was safe.

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We are insured for 100 million euros.

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It's quarter to eight on a Sunday morning. Berlin is just waking up, and we are about to go for a drive.

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Are you seriously saying this car is driving itself?

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Yeah, I don't do anything with my feet. Do you see my hands here?

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Put your hands above, on your head.

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And it will recognize the traffic lights. You see them here in the monitor?

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It's a remarkable experience, 

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to be in a car that knows how to steer, overtake, recognize and respond to traffic situations -- possibly even quicker than you or me. 

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A late change of traffic lights, and it stopped, thank goodness.

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My first driverless ride and yes, I'm in one piece. 

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Of course, there are other such projects in the world. 

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What makes this one unique is the relationship between university, research institutes, and the city, which has allowed this driverless car to get on the road.

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Whether it's Trabant or technology, Berlin knows it has the brain power and the imagination to put it on any future map.