[nabs-l] Cars for the Blind

[Kirt Manwaring]

Absolutely- but, 50 years ago, the technology for computers and the
internet was still conceivable, although not available.  To me, the
hardest part would be getting a system which could show us everything
a sighted person could see on the road, and give us enough time to
react acordingly.  (we're talking split-second things here, stuff
sighted peoples' brains see and process practicly instantaneously)  I
think, if such an interface is possible, it's a long, long way off.
  That being said, I'm all for what's happening with the blind driver
challenge and the race for independence.  That could be what we need
to make those technologies possible, and who knows what else could
come from it.  I just don't see me driving in ten, twenty, even fifty
years.  Maybe never.  But I hope to be proven wrong.  By all means, as
long as the money and resources are available for this kind of
research, and it seems to me they very much are, why the heck not?

On 8/5/10, Ignasi Cambra <ignasicambra at gmail.com> wrote:
> I also think it's a good idea, just because whether we end up making a car
> that we can drive or not, we will certainly learn something out of it. It is
> true that these days blind people are doing things which seemed impossible
> only 50 years ago. I wonder how many people in the 60s thought that it was
> possible to create a computer, and how many of those people thought it was
> possible to have a blind person use that computer independently like we do
> now. By then, it must have felt pretty much as impossible as driving a car
> feels now. I don't know if they'll get anything useful out of it, but
> technologies invented in order to make that car will certainly be useful in
> the future, both for blind and sighted people.
> On Aug 4, 2010, at 4:14 PM, Kirt Manwaring wrote:
>
>> I think the race for independence is a great idea.  Will it end up
>> producing a car we can actually drive- who can say?  But I see nothing
>> wrong with trying.  I confess to being, even after convention, a bit
>> skeptical of a car that I could drive.  It sounds great on paper- but
>> that's a whole heck of a lot of technology to depend on.  (you're
>> talking cameras, laser sensors, and the interface to efficiently show
>> a blind driver everything a sighted person's brain unconsciously
>> processes in a matter of miliseconds)  I'm no expert, and I certainly
>> hope future developments prove me wrong, but I just don't see how it's
>> going to work.  Does anyone have any information, other than what we
>> heard at onvention, about the specific technologies that could be
>> involved?  I'd be very interested.  Thanks and I appologize for the
>> rambling post.
>>
>> On 8/3/10, Joe Orozco <jsorozco at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Something Antonio mentioned in his last post got me thinking about
>>> something.  Antonio said:
>>>
>>> "Let's support work to develop useful, cheaper, and better technologies
>>> and
>>> fully investigate something before becoming spoke persons for unviable
>>> solutions.
>>>
>>> I guess this is my sentiment as it relates to this whole project devoted
>>> to
>>> cars for the blind.  If the topic's already been discussed, I totally
>>> missed
>>> it, but what do people generally think about it?
>>>
>>> Joe
>>>
>>> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their
>>> sleeves,
>>> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>>>
>>>
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