One of the main problems with driving a car is that no one around you can figure out what you’re planning to do until they’re under your wheels. Well, a group of students from Japan’s Tsukuba University have developed a car that lets drivers communicate more easily with pedestrians, mainly through giant googly eyes.
The car, The Homunculus, is designed to simulate the visual cues that people use to communicate including:
- Eye Movements: A system in the car keeps track of the driver’s eyes movements and uses them to move giant eyes on the front of the car so pedestrians can see which way the driver’s looking.
- Hand Gestures: Another sensor detects hand movments and projects images of them on the road in front of the car. That way, pedestrians can better see if the driver’s waving them on to cross in front.
- Haptic Communications: Infrared sensors on the side of the car activate vibration motors on the driver’s arms to let them know about oncoming objects.
All of which may help drivers avoid accidents, but there’s no doubting that those giant eyes are creepy in any language. Oh, and it doesn’t lessen the creepiness that the video illustrating non-verbal information sharing shows two Japanese students checking out (and judging) a girl together.
Check out the Homunculus in action after the jump!
https://www.youtube.com/v/qU6MaAfY0uw&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3
[Asiajin via Crunchgear]