[Nfbk] Fw: Interesting Article On Blind Driver ChallengePublished1/19/2011

Tue Jan 25 00:47:41 UTC 2011

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Cc: "Dave Perry" <daveperry at fuse.net>
Subject: Interesting Article On Blind Driver ChallengePublished1/19/2011

The following article about the Blind Driver ChallengeT was published
yesterday on a Roanoke, Virginia news site. This is the first of several
important e-mails about the Rolex 24 At Daytona event that will be sent in
the next few days as Race Day (Saturday, January 29) approaches.  Please
stay tuned.

Blind drivers test out vehicle at VIR
Source:  WSLS 10 (Roanoke, Virginia)

By TARA BOZICK
Published: January 19, 2011

When Anil Lewis lost his sight, he sorely missed driving.

Now, technology and innovation allow him to drive again, as he did at
Virginia International Raceway on Wednesday.

"For me, driving again is a very awesome experience," said Lewis, director
of strategic communications for the National Federation of the Blind.

He and the NFB can't wait for tens of thousands of people to witness a blind
driver demonstration as part of the pre-race activities of the Rolex 24 at
Daytona International Speedway at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 29. That's what the
research team and drivers were practicing for at VIR this past week.

"Hardly anybody else in the world believes this is even possible," said Mark
Riccobono, executive director of the NFB's Jernigan Institute. "Because we
believe it's possible, we're working on it and found the brightest minds who
believed in it and are working on it to make it possible."

The vision that one day blind people would drive independently started with
Marc Maurer, president of the NFB. In 2004, the organization called on
innovative technology as part of its Blind Driver Challenge.

So far, Virginia Tech with its Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory is the
only university to step up and take on the challenge to develop non-visual
driver "interfaces" or tools, like gloves that send vibrations to tell
drivers how to steer.

Riccobono hopes more universities will get involved now that one hurdle was
jumped  developing the vehicle or "vehicle research platform"  that could
integrate the non-visual interfaces and test out ideas on how the car could
communicate with blind drivers. That vehicle was developed by TORC, a
spin-off company from Virginia Tech specializing in unmanned vehicles and
autonomous systems.

TORC developed a ByWire XGV (drive-by-wire) vehicle using a Ford Escape
Hybrid, said TORC software engineer Jesse Hurdus. The collaborative team
completed two prototypes vehicles.

The Virginia Tech team, led by graduate student Paul D'Angio and adviser
Dennis Hong (director of the robotics lab), developed a SpeedStrip and
DriveGrip as interfaces.

A driver sits on the SpeedStrip to communicate through the back and legs
whether a driver needs to speed up or brake. The DriveGrip is a pair of
gloves that vibrates which direction to turn and also to what degree
depending on the finger. For instance, if the vibration is on the pinky
finger, that means the driver should make a sharp turn.

D'Angio wanted to take on a project that would help society. The
 "ear-to-ear" smiles of blind drivers taking the vehicle for a spin also
fuel his passion.

Lewis and Riccobono hope these efforts can help blind people gain more
access to jobs or other activities. They believe driving is just the
beginning of the uses for this kind of technology.

Most of all, they would like to shatter misconceptions people have about the
abilities of blind people. The NFB continually pushes the horizons of
independence and its 50,000 members are counting on the Blind Driver
Challenge.

"We want to prove blind people can drive," Lewis said. "Where it takes us
from there, that's the fun part of the drive."

Learn more

For more information about the Blind Drive Challenge and to get updates on
the Daytona demonstration, visit www.blinddriverchallenge.org.

For more info on Virginia Tech's Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, visit
www.romela.org.

For info on TORC, visit www.torctech.com .

For more info on the National Federation of the Blind, visit www.nfb.org.
Link to article:
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2011/jan/19/blind-drivers-test-out-vehicle-vir-ar-785883/

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