Geek News: Grand Am and Virginia Tech to Unveil a Car For The Blind at Daytona
We have blind gamers; why not blind drivers? According to the Epoch Times, the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) has teamed up with Virginia Tech and Grand-Am to work on creating a modified Ford Escape that would allow a blind person to drive.
The prototype Ford Escape is scheduled to be unveiled for the very first time in late January of next year at the Daytona International Speedway course.
Three years ago, the NFB issued a “Blind Driver Challenge,” that would stimulate the development of non-visual technology and allow the blind to drive. Under the direction of Professor Dennis Hong, it was undergraduate students at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering that took up the challenge.
“The challenge was not the development of an autonomous vehicle that could drive a blind person around, but rather the creation of non-visual interfaces that would allow a blind person to actually make driving decisions,” Professor Hong explained in a press release.
A prototype four-wheel dune buggy was demonstrated at the NFB Youth Slam during the summer of 2009. The first-generation prototype was fitted with laser range finders and an instant voice command interface by Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory. These, along with other non-visual technology, were designed to help guide blind drivers behind the wheel.
Virginia Tech’s Blind Drive Challenge team worked with blind students that test drove the dune buggy to test the first-generation non-visual interface, and are now working with the NFB and Grand Am on the second-generation prototype vehicle, a Ford Escape.
“This demonstration will break down the wall of stereotypes and misconceptions that prevent our full integration into society by showing the public that the blind have the same capacities as everyone else,” said Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the NFB. “Our only challenge is access to the information we need.”
Affiliates
