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

Tue Apr 16 06:10:10 UTC 2013

Hello,
I agree completely. We have moved on from a matter of NFB support to Mac 
computers are better than PCs!
What is stopping the NFB from supporting both the NFB car and the Google 
car?
Frankly, I would use the two cars in completely different ways.
NFB car would be used for racing or recreational 4-wheeling where skill is 
the thrill. The Google car would be my reliable ride to people's houses.
The same argument is raging in the sighted world, Would one rather trust a 
computer or their own skill. There are some people who are terrified of 
driving next to a robot and there are people who think having robots drive 
is the coolest thing since sliced bread.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but if one takes a look at 
the list of pros and cons they may be surprised to notice that the lists may 
not be what they expected.
https://sites.google.com/site/unibathautonomouscars/services
Thanks,

Brandon Keith Biggs
-----Original Message----- 
From: Robert William Kingett
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 10:05 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: [nabs-l] the NFB car VS the google car.

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

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