{"id":26113,"date":"2010-07-02T13:32:51","date_gmt":"2010-07-02T18:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=26113"},"modified":"2010-07-02T13:47:46","modified_gmt":"2010-07-02T18:47:46","slug":"new-car-could-let-the-blind-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2010\/07\/new-car-could-let-the-blind-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"New Car Could Let The Blind Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Blind driver Brian Buhrow tries out DriveGrip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While there have been plenty of advances when it comes to enabling the blind to participate in daily life, they\u2019re still at a severe disadvantage in a society so heavily dependent on personal transportation.<\/p>\n

But even that obstacle soon could be overcome, suggests the National Federation of the Blind, which is developing a high-tech version of the Ford Escape designed to allow the blind to drive.<\/p>\n

Developed in cooperation with Virginia Tech, the vehicle will make its running debut on January 29, 2011 during the \u201cBlind Driver Challenge,\u201d an on-track event that will lead into the annual Rolex 24 endurance race at Florida\u2019s Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n

\"\/about\/subscribe\"<\/a>
Your Global Auto News Source!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not prepared to say when a vehicle like this will be in a dealership where you could walk in and buy one, but with a little imagination, I\u2019m convinced that day will come,\u201d says Federation board member Tarnell Diggs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Addison Hugen discovers the joy of driving.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Himself blind, Diggs tells TheDetroitBureau.com that, \u201cThe primary purpose\u201d in developing the prototype, \u201cis to show that blind people have the capacity to dream of a better world than we have today \u2013 which includes society recognizing that blind people have the capacity to act on their own behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

The modified Ford uses a technology called \u201cnon-visual interfaces\u201d to allow a blind driver to \u201csee\u201d what\u2019s happening on the road around the vehicle and maneuver \u2013 steer, brake and accelerate \u2013 just like a sighted motorist.\u00a0 Many of the specific systems in use on the Escape prototype were previously used on a Virginia Tech entry into the 2007 DARPA Grand Challenge.\u00a0 Part of an ongoing series of \u201craces\u201d by the defense research group, the Challenge was aimed at developing fully autonomous vehicles that could drive on their own, without human intervention, on an extended course.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Virginia Tech's Mark Roane demonstrates the AirPix system, which can help blind motorists "see" what's happening around them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today\u2019s most advanced vehicles include a variety of semi-autonomous technologies, such as Lane Departure Warning, which can alert a motorist when a vehicle is in their blind spot, even gently nudge the car back into its lane.\u00a0 Volvo recently introduced a system designed for urban driving that can react fast if a pedestrian steps in front of a vehicle, even bringing it to a stop without the driver\u2019s intervention.\u00a0 And some experts believe that within the next several decades it will be possibly to operate fully autonomous vehicles on public roadways.<\/p>\n

But the vehicle the Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech are developing is not intended to let the unsighted simply go along for the ride, but rather to enable them to become active drivers.<\/p>\n

A system called AirPix will permit an unsighted driver to internally visualize what\u2019s happening on the roadway, using a small tablet that functions much like an air hockey table.\u00a0 Puffs of air will illustrate where there are other cars or obstacles ahead.<\/p>\n

DriveGrip, meanwhile, can alert the driver when and where to turn by using gloves that vibrate, like a muted cellphone.<\/p>\n

Researchers at Virginia Tech contend that some of the systems they are developing could eventually make it safer for even sighted drivers to negotiate today\u2019s crowded roads.<\/p>\n

The Federation and Virginia Tech are announcing the project today at the Daytona speedway, and individual pieces of the car\u2019s technology will be on display at the Federation\u2019s annual convention, in Dallas, over the coming days.<\/p>\n

The unsighted driver who will participate in the January 29 event has not yet been named, according to the National Federation of the Blind.<\/p>\n

Board member Diggs hints that the modified Ford might not be the only vehicle participating in next January\u2019s Blind Driver Challenge \u2013 which suggests that perhaps other autonomous or semi-autonomous automobiles will take to the track in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there have been plenty of advances when it comes to enabling the blind to participate in daily life, they\u2019re still at a severe disadvantage in a society so heavily dependent on personal transportation.<\/p>\n

But even that obstacle soon could be overcome, suggests the National Federation of the Blind, which is developing a high-tech version of the Ford Escape designed to allow the blind to drive.
\nThe prototype Ford will make its debut during the “Blind Driver Challenge” at the Rolex 24 race, in Daytona, next January. More from TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=26113"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=26113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}