Directed interaction of customers with autonomous vehicles

1. A system for an autonomous-driving vehicle, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a request, from a device associated with a person, to meet the person at a location, the request further comprising a notification to deliver items;

drive the vehicle to the location;

identify the person at the location, the identification including:

determining, based on a density of people at the location, whether to request a signal from the device to confirm a proper identity of the person;

in response to determining to request the signal from the device, receiving and authenticating the signal;

detect a posture or orientation of the person;

based on the detected posture or orientation, determine a mode of communication and a location at which to signal the person to interact with the vehicle;

assembling the items according to sizes, shapes, storage temperatures, and sensitivities to light;

detect an opening of a door; and

upon detecting an opening of the door, rearrange the items to reduce an amount of space consumed by the items.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal comprises an authentication request for the person.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the authentication request comprises a showing of a gesture.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the authentication request comprises presenting a portion of the body of the person in front of a sensor.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the portion comprises a face, an eye, or a side of the body.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to authenticate the person by confirming co-location of the person and a handheld device in wireless communication with the vehicle.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to provide an indication for the person to pick up an item in the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to monitor items in the vehicle during the pickup.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to rearrange items to facilitate pickup.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to, following identification of the person, send a directed alert notification to the person, wherein the directed alert notification comprises a directed acoustic signal.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the directed acoustic signal is sent from at least two different sound generating devices disposed on the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the acoustic signal from each sound generating device is synchronized so as to arrive at the person at the same time.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the directed alert notification includes a personalization based on a code provided to the person wirelessly in advance, or based on a user preference or language choice of the person.

14. A computer-implemented method performed in an autonomous-driving vehicle comprising:

receiving a request, from a device associated with a person, to meet the person at a location the request further comprising a notification to deliver items;

driving the vehicle to the location;

identifying the person at the location, the identification including:

determining, based on a density of people at the location, whether to request a signal from the device to confirm a proper identity of the person;

in response to determining to request the signal from the device, receiving and authenticating the signal;

detecting a posture or orientation of the person; and

based on the detected posture or orientation, determining a mode of communication and a location at which to signal the person to interact with the vehicle;

assembling the items according to sizes, shapes, storage temperatures, and sensitivities to light;

detecting an opening of a door; and

upon detecting an opening of the door, rearranging the items to reduce an amount of space consumed by the items.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mode of communication includes a series of acoustic signals, each of the acoustic signals originating from different speakers of the vehicle and having a different amount of delay such that the acoustic signals arrive at the location simultaneously; and the instructions further cause the processors to:

switch on the different speakers in response to the vehicle being within a threshold distance from the person.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processors to:

Select a particular speaker to communicate with the person based on a distance between the person and the vehicle and a privacy level of a communication with the person.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the identification of the person is based on shapes and pixel intensities of potential persons of interest.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processors to:

determine whether some or all of the items have been picked up by the person but one of the items are remaining in the vehicle; and

in response to determine that one of the items are remaining in the vehicle, issue an alert.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processors to:

signal to pedestrians whether to proceed to cross a street at an intersection or whether the vehicle has priority.