[nabs-l] Cars for the Blind

Sat Aug 7 21:43:15 UTC 2010

You pseak true. I want to have a car I can get in to and drive someware weather to run away or to go shoping. Now I can't wait for this to happen, but I am worried by one thing.

I got hit by a car last year and i tried hard to voat this down because of that. I don't want that responcibility on my shoulders.

On Aug 5, 2010, at 8:37 PM, Kirt Manwaring wrote:

> Man...no.  What if I wanna drag race, or do doughnuts in the middle of
> the road, or something like that?  I'm not sure an autonomous computer
> would let me be a risky driver like that.  But- in all seriousness,
> I'm not sure there's any substitute for the human brain.  I really
> wouldn't trust any computer, no matter how advanced, to drive me any
> place.  Because, all the computing power in the world can't make up
> for human intuition and reasoning.  I suppose avoiding obstacles and
> the like would be possible with a computer driving you, but I think
> there are situations on a road that require more complex problem
> solving ability than that.  And- pardon my silliness, but where's the
> fun in letting a computer drive you any place?  To me that almost
> defeats the purpose of driving.  Just sayin.  :)
> Hope everyone's doing well,
> Kirt
> 
> On 8/5/10, Mark J. Cadigan <kramc11 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> In my opinion, a car that drives itself would be the best option. Eliminate
>> human error from the equation. I don't just mean for blind drivers, but for
>> everyone. Have your own personal Cray supercomputer under the hood along
>> with the engine. Lol. But in all seriousness the computing power required to
>> have a truly autonomous vehicle would be staggering.
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Kirt Manwaring" <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com>
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2010 5:25 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Cars for the Blind
>> 
>> 
>>> 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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>>>>> 
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