Can anyone tell me what the passenger is staring at?
So you know that scenario where you’re driving home after work and suddenly some college freshman, in a new VW Jetta, pulls out right in front of you, completely cutting you off at the intersection? Well, it sounds like in the near future we may have to hold our tongues and refrain from instinctively shouting, “ARE YOU BLIND?” That’s right, science is working hard to empower the visually impaired with the ability to drive a car, albeit maybe not a VW Jetta, yet.
This past weekend, the technology was tested at the Daytona International Speedway when Mark Anthony Riccobono, a blind technology executive from the National Federation for the Blind, drove 1.5 miles in a specially outfitted Ford Escape, built in conjunction with Virginia Tech engineers.
The Ford Escape was equipped with laser range-finding sensors that conveyed information to a computer inside the vehicle, allowing it to create and constantly update a three-dimensional map of the road environment. The computer sent directions to vibrating gloves on the driver’s hands, indicating which way to steer, and to a vibrating strip on which he was seated, indicating when to speed up, slow down, or stop. [Good]
Mark piloted the vehicle through a number of different turns and obstacles, even evading boxes that were randomly dropped from a moving van. Still not impressed? Well, just to up the ante and truly prove the ability of their new technology, Mark then signaled and passed the van before cruising over to your mother’s house without collision. While the technology is still a long way from being applied in the real world, it certainly gives hope to a level of freedom that I’m sure most visually impaired people thought they’d never be able to experience.
Video after the jump:
https://public.streamhoster.com/Resources/Flash/JWFLVMediaPlayer/mediaplayer.swf