[nabs-l] the NFB car VS the google car.

[Robert William Kingett]

In reading this thread this morning, there's a lot of support for a car 
that isn't even hinting at what stage in the development it's resting 
on. Someone said that the car will be ready by 2016 but that can be 
dismissed simply, because, the fact that the NFB are not even releasing 
any information about the car and also about the technology because, 
apparently, they don't want to be like apple and have their stuff taken. 
If this is the case then how would you know that the technology will be 
ready in 2016? It doesn't make sense. If there's no more press releases 
about the subject, news coverage, updates on the email list, and yes 
I've been subscribed for about a month, TV coverage, anything. It's as 
if this car was like an amazing firework that faded away over time.so, 
if there's no progress indicator as to how far the technology is then, 
no, the car will not be ready by 2016. No one knows when this car will 
be ready.

As far as safety, I have a few things to point out. I've seen this car 
in action. It's stunning, amazing, and epic, but it’s prone to a lot of 
accidents simply by the sheer notion that it's human operated. Plus, 
instead of having one piece of technology to worry about failing, the 
driver as to be aware of everything. This fosters greater 
responsibility, yes, but that comes bundled with an unseen price. For 
those who don't know, I'll talk about the car. And the challenge and 
weigh the consider and pros, my opinions, of course, based in 
observation alone.

The challengeis not the development of an autonomous car that drives a 
blind person around; the “challenge” is to develop a nonvisual interface 
for a car that can convey real-time information about driving conditions 
to the blind so that we can use our own capacity to think and react to 
interpret these data and maneuver a car safely.

You know how on this list even some blind people were like oh my god I 
don’t want to be alongside of a blind person driving! There could be 
accidents with the Google car! Wouldn't this car present even more 
accidents? The sheer idea of the Google car was to create polite 
software that follows the rules of the road, keeping people safe. I 
don’t want to or don't need to tell you all about the kind of technology 
that this sports because I've posted many, many, many, many, many, many 
news articles and videos on the subject as well as videos, even a really 
long documentary on the car. In the NFB car, as I have said, the driver 
has to be aware of everything… even, say pedestrian’s etc. machine can 
act way faster than man. You know all those scenarios that people posted 
here about worrying about people running out into the street, etc.? Did 
you all not read the last news article I posted? The car stopped when a 
squirrel skittered onto the street. With the NFB car that information 
needs to be conveyed to the driver quickly enough for the driver to 
react. The Google car reacts instantly, and it did. As I have said, the 
NFB car’s drivers rely on information that HAS to be conveyed to them so 
that they can make decisions, but what if not everything is conveyed to 
them at a very crucial point, say, when a squirrel skitters out onto the 
road. Amazingly, I got to wave my press pass like a drunken monkey to 
have a close up look at the car.

I also kept an eye out for good-looking black men but I didn't see any. 
When will I ever find a beautiful husband? Sigh. I want to have someone 
who looks like Denzel Washington! Ahem! Anyway…

A vibrating seat, called SpeedStrip, told Riccobono whether to speed up 
or slow down depending on what part of the seat rumbled. Gloves with 
tiny vibrating motors, called DriveGrip, let Riccobono know what to do 
with the steering wheel. What if one of these malfunctions but the rest 
work fine, and someone runs out into the street before the driver can 
react. With the Google car, this doesn't happen, correction, didn't. 
Plus, as many news articles say, there's failsafe in place when 
something malfunctions. The issue with the blind car, again, is the 
reaction time of the driver and this is a huge issue because humans are 
not the same.

Now, onto actually driving. If the NFB car is prominent then there are a 
whole slew of things that will have to be made. Driving tests 
specifically, and also test courses would need to be built that 
specifically test the adaptive technology in the car and a more unique 
driving test specifically for the blind, not to mention a track. With 
the Google car, this isn't needed. Sure, I’d believe you'd have to be 
licensed to use the car but it will be a much more streamlined process.

Also, what if you’re missing a glove, etc. you can't drive, can you? 
Sighted people can just hop in their cars and go. the NFB car has to be 
geared up to go. What if you’re disorganized and loose a glove? You have 
everything else but you don't have all the technology needed to drive, 
and you'd have to call a cab anyway. Okay maybe not just a glove but you 
get my point right?

Now, about any route, say, to school, In order to actually drive this 
route, the blind driver needs to have a thorough understanding of their 
immediate environment. You'd have to map out the route before you get 
there. With the Google car, this isn't even an issue. You'd just hop in 
the car and go. By the way, the best thing about having a car that 
operates on cloud technology, you could actually control the car via 
phone. You don't have to be in the car. This is incredible, meaning, 
before you leave, you can input where you want to go as you’re sitting 
on your couch.

Something that's not in the Google car that I believe should be, is 
something to tell you how long it will take you to get there. I don't 
know why Google didn't think of that. For movies, etc. so you'd know 
what time you'd have to leave, etc.

The software that's on the Google car is cloud based, everything, so it 
will update wirelessly. This is badass, if you ask me. Its maps will 
update in real time, almost. This is also a bad thing, because, as of 
now, if it's heavy snow or heavy rain then you can't drive the car. But 
the software will be updated. How would you update the GPS in the NFB 
car? Google is thinking about easy future implementation, hence having a 
car that operates via the cloud and wireless technology. This will make 
upgrades easier. You won’t have to get a new model unless the engine 
fails or something like that.

As of now there's no audible interface to start the car but there's a 
keyboard command, shift X, if you were listening in the last video that 
I posted about the BBC documentary involving the Google car. This 
technology will accommodate the blind fully, with more work, because, 
hell, a blind person has driven it! That shows me that Google is 
definitely thinking about the blind driving this car in the future.

There aren’t a lot of road laws that would need to be in place. With the 
NFB car you'd have to take into drinking while driving, etc., 
accompanying the blindness. With the Google car you can be as drunk as 
you want to be and drive back home or just sit back and let the car 
drive you home. Laws wouldn't have to be made at all, really, unless for 
underage drivers and such.

Humans are greedy creatures. The Google car isn't pushy. To prove this, 
I would say watch the videos about the Google car found below this huge 
message that I'm writing out. Humans merge so they can pass others, 
etc., thus, more roads would need to be built because the instinct of us 
people is to just merge onto the next lane and pass. The Google car is 
courteous, allowing people to pass, merging behind cars to free up road 
space, etc. of course, you can already set the GPS to take you the 
fastest route or… whatever option there is… laughing out loud.

I want to talk about theft, just because absolutely no one has covered 
this before. With the NFB car if someone steals equipment, you can't 
drive it can you? You’d have to get it toad, all because you were 
missing the seat strips. Yes, people steal weird stuff. It happens. 
Also, if you’re going to a job interview, or something, where would you 
put all that gear after you get in there? You forget, sighted people can 
just hop in a car and go, thus stealing your car without even needing 
any special gloves. Since the Google car, right now, starts with a 
hotkey on a computer keyboard it wouldn't be hard to implement 
fingerprint technology to make sure this doesn't happen. By the way, I 
don’t want to sit for an extra 7 minutes making sure all my gear is on.

This is just nit-picking, and doesn't make a logical argument but I'm 
going to say it anyway. If I'm on a date with some gorgeous guy I want 
to hold his hand while I'm driving with him. It’s cute and romantic. In 
the NFB car I wouldn't be able to do that, thus, I’d be pouting all the 
way to the restaurant. Seriously if you all, if you had a gorgeous man 
sitting next to you wouldn’t you want to hold his hand? LOL. The Google 
car allows me to do this with no problem. I want to touch my sweet 
chocolate dang it! LOL. I am a young man, after all, I have needs! Ahem, 
moving on.

You won’t be able to control the NFB car via phone. With the Google car 
you will. You can have it drop you off and then park, and then swig by 
to pick you up. Since the car will operate via computer, there's no 
question that will be a feature.

What if you have to take a lot of equipment for your job? You can't eat 
and drive in the NFB car, etc.

I believe I have said everything that I want to say. For the rest, let 
me repeat multiple times, watch the videos I posted about the BBC and 
the blind driver driving the Google car. I've included them below, by 
the way. I've posted enough news articles about the subject but if you 
need more I'll send it along.

I seriously don't understand why the NFB are not behind this. This is 
the definition of a new kind of independence. The NFB shouldn’t be 
trying to push their car out to people because they made their blind 
drivable car. If the NFB is all about equality then we as NFB people, 
and yes ACB people too, should back this car without question, not 
trying to be celebrities because we have also made a car. The more 
support from all caps, the sooner this will become a sweet, sweet 
reality. See below for the videos.

Google car. BBC video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlJU7GgBMmY

Google's self-driving car. Cell phone shot. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unS_WdnyDQY

CNN test-drives Google’s "self-driving car" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCpPPVvGqTY

Google's Self-Driving Car Coming Soon? 2013. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI2pRwcw8ew

Blind man driving the Google car with audio description. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peDy2st2XpQ