Commuting - What could possibly go wrong?

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bikegeek57
07-31-09, 07:46 AM
What could possibly go wrong?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/31/0051243/Prototype-Vehicle-For-the-Blind?art_***=10

sorry to redirect to another link like this but I am just busting my brain thinking how this could be such a bad idea. :twitchy:

have to say this is not cool. sighted drivers have enough trouble seeing us and I wear a ton of lights to boot.

duckbill
07-31-09, 08:05 AM
What could possibly go wrong?

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/31/0051243/Prototype-Vehicle-For-the-Blind?art_***=10

sorry to redirect to another link like this but I am just busting my brain thinking how this could be such a bad idea. :twitchy:

have to say this is not cool. sighted drivers have enough trouble seeing us and I wear a ton of lights to boot.

I believe most of the drivers in my city are blind without the aid of lasers.
EKW in DC
07-31-09, 08:45 AM
Yeah that would be scary.

Some of the comments to that post are hilarious.

modernjess
07-31-09, 08:49 AM
Solution: Hide their keys.

On the other hand these days they are likely to be some of the safest drivers on the road.
lil brown bat
07-31-09, 09:02 AM
have to say this is not cool. sighted drivers have enough trouble seeing us and I wear a ton of lights to boot.

I wouldn't bust my butt organizing a protest at the RMV just yet if I were you. This is a student project demonstrating a hypothetical application of a technology, not the imminent release of blind drivers onto the nation's highways. It's not even a picture of the nose of an elephant coming through some other door a continent away.
CliftonGK1
07-31-09, 09:51 AM
I have no problem with a vehicle for the blind. But they have to take the same driving test as everyone else to get a license, right?

While there can be a Braille interpretation (just like there are 25 other languages available) of the wording "What does a sign in this shape mean?", if you can't recognize the shape without touching it, then you're s.o.l.
The "look into the viewfinder and tell me which side you see the blinking light" part of the test will probably be tough, too.
stu842
07-31-09, 10:22 AM
Maybe if every moving vehicle in the country implemented an automated control system and the necessary infrastructure was in place to facilitate this, the idea could work. Short of that, no way. (and I don't see these requirements ever being met.)


Some of the comments to that post are hilarious.

One of the reasons I love Slashdot. :)
bikegeek57
07-31-09, 12:12 PM
It's not even a picture of the nose of an elephant coming through some other door a continent away.

I love this comment. Hah!

the comments on the /. site for that note were among the funniest I've seen in a while.
annc
07-31-09, 01:22 PM
If a car can gather enough information to tell a blind driver how to drive then why not take the next step and have the car drive itself (http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp)?
bikegeek57
08-01-09, 07:29 AM
If a car can gather enough information to tell a blind driver how to drive then why not take the next step and have the car drive itself (http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp)?

they've not had such great success with this. DARPA has an annual contest to do just that. I am not sure if any of the high tech research groups have successfully completed the road test without crashing. I could be wrong but I recall there being some spectacular crashes on the test runs.