[il-talk] Blind Driver Challenge

[AZNOR99 at aol.com]

Thanks, George,
 
The BDC was a lot of fun, and it was such a pleasant surprise to look up  
and see Linda waving at me and shouting my name as I walked past the NFB 
Grand  Stand.  It was awesome hanging out with you at the pizza party as  well.
 
I got some fun pictures of the car, including one of those super model  
poses where I'm leaning over the hood.  The NFB had a booth where people  could 
change a tire with sleep shades on.  Some people did it in less than  30 
seconds.  I heard someone say that anyone working in the pitt at a race  
should be required to get training on how to change tires blind from us, as it'd  
reduce the time cars have to spend off the track.  
 
The unintended aspect of the BDC, I believe, was that people got to brush  
up on their mobility skills.  The Daytona race track is 3.5 miles long, and  
the fare grounds are in the center.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason  
as to where anything is.  Our booth and grand stand were both in the Sprint  
Fan Zone (opposite ends).  The problem was that there was a Sprint Fan  
Deck, Sprint Fan Fair, Sprint Fan Patio, and on and on.  Then, pretty much  
everyone who worked the event was driving an official car or golf cart  inside 
the fare grounds, sharing space with the 35,000 race attendees who were  on 
foot.  Many of the cars were actual race cars, which made using audio  cues 
for mobility quite challenging.  Finally, none of the park staff  seemed to 
know where anything was, especially the parking lot where our buses  and 
cars were, our grand stand, our booth (though they all seemed to know where  
our car was).  So we wandered around a lot.  Everyone had a story  about how 
they got lost or misdirected, or just outright confused.  I'm  convinced when 
we go to Orlando, we'll be able to go to Daytona and pick up  
Federationists who are still wandering around the racetrack.
 
At any rate, it was a lot of fun, and it was incredible to witness such an  
important moment in our organization's history.
 
Ronza
 
 
 
In a message dated 1/30/2011 11:01:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
gvilla at wideopenwest.com writes:

Hello  All

Linda and I spent two exciting days with the NFB in Daytona.   The meeting 
on
Friday night was filled with anticipation.   It  felt like a pep rally and
really fired up the NFB members in  attendance.  The speakers left us with a
feeling of confidence and  expectations for the coming day's history making
event.  For the first  time a blind person would enter a car as a driver and
not a  passenger.  A blind person would be in control of a car.   Mark
Ricobono, the driver, would control the speed of the vehicle, make  turns 
and
avoid objects.   Just think how that would feel.   At the end of the evening
we were all given purple and white shirts to wear  on Saturday.
Saturday morning busses were lined up to take us to the race  track.  As 
many
years that Linda and I have been coming to Daytona we  had never been to the
track.  So this was a first for us.    
A lot of behind the scenes work was done between the NFB and the  track
management and it showed.  A seating area was reserved for us as  a group.
Feelings ran high.  NFB members were singing and dancing as  we waited for
the Blind Drivers Challenge to begin.  Excitement filled  the air.  As the
beginning of the drive came near Kevin Worley made an  announcement from the
audio booth and cheers went up.  Kevin did a  great job keeping us informed
of each and every step of the  race.   We were told each step of the way as
Mark was handed the  keys, as he started the vehicle, and then the drive
began.  It seemed  like a life time, but then there he was turning the 
corner
right in front  of us.  The excitement as he passed the NFB grandstand  was
electrifying.   After the drive we went to the media  center.   It was
standing room only.  We heard from Dr. Mark  Mauer, Kevin Worley, one of the
technicians from Virginia tech, and of  course our driver Mark Ricobono.
Many other people spoke and worked hard to  make this event possible I'm 
sure
I left out some important names.   The rest of the afternoon was spent at 
the
track.  We met NFB members  from around the country, sampled some great 
chili
from the chili cook off  and enjoyed the great weather. 
Saturday evening we shared more NFB  fellowship at a pizza party with all in
attendance.   We were at  tables for ten at the pizza party and who happened
to sit next to us,  Chicago Chapter member Ronza Othman.  We had a nice 
visit
with  her.  Everyone was abuzz from the day's history making event.  
Saturday's events proved with technology, appropriate training and  
education
the blind are capable of many things.  We can expand our  productivity and
participation in society.   It was a great day  for the NFB and blind people
as a whole.   
I have attached  pictures from Saturday's events.   There are pictures of  
the
excited crowd in the grandstands, speakers, and of course the car  driven by
Mark as it passed us on the course.  The car was on display  and we were 
able
to get up close to the vehicle and took pictures of the  outside and the
inside of the car.  Engineers from Virginia tech were  on hand and I was 
able
to ask questions about the car.  In one of the  pictures I am holding one of
the control gloves that is used to control the  vehicle.  The gloves seemed
like an ordinary pair of work gloves but  has an extraordinary system
attached to it.  A second picture is of  the car seat, again an ordinary
looking seat pad with unbelievable  technology behind it.  Another picture
shows a computer in the rear  hatch of the vehicle.  This computer controls
the sensors that enable  the blind to interpret the input that goes into the
gloves and seat.   There is even a shot of fellow chapter member Steve
Hastalis in the  grandstand.  Unfortunately the crowd and area was so big we
never  caught site of Steve again. There are even a few shots of Linda  and
me.