Cars for the blinds driven by interaction...

News from http://www.overthelimit.info/curiosity/2010/07/06/car-for-blind-drivers-coming-out-next-year/

It used to be that blind people were looked at as some of the most handicapped people around. Now comes word that next year will bring forth a car for blind drivers

Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech, have a prototype which they say can bring a car for blind drivers to the market next year.

The car is not self driving The program which would drive the car would be designed to become adept to its surroudnings and would send information back to the car through non visual interfaces

. This information would in turn help steer the car.

There are several programs that are being used with one using gloves that would send vibrations to the hand and would tell the blind driver how to steer and when to steer. Another uses compressed air which would help with navigation.

‘We are exploring areas that once were thought to be untouchable’ stated Dr. Marc Maurer, the director of the National Association of The Blind. ‘This is another example of showing that blind people are moving away from the theory that blind people cannot contribute to society’ exclaimed Maurer. Maurer went on to say that the blind car would be like the Americans landing on the moon.