Picture yourself cruising along a two-way highway and you decide to pass the car in front of you. Just before you pass, you feel you vehicle seat vibrate and at the last second you decide to wait to pass that lagging car. That little vibration may have prevent a serious accident and maybe save someone’s life. You see, that little vibrate was a warning that there was another car in the passing lane but could not be seen in your blind spot.
Technology never ceases to amaze me.
The proposed “touch alert” has advantages has two advantages over the visual and audio warnings already deployed in some cars, said John Morrell, the assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Yale University who invented the system.
First, the modern drivers already finds themselves bombarded by numerous blinking lights, and adding one more would only distract drivers further. Second, a touch cue can transmit location without requiring the driver to turn their head, while also grabbing the driver’s attention in a more visceral way.
“Looking at an (light) and converting that into an image of a car in your blind spot requires a little more cognitive ability than if something’s touching you,” Morrell told TechNewsDaily. “It’s a more direct pathway into the brain, since touch gives you orientation for free.”
The system uses vibrating cell phone motors, as well as some more gradual actuators, embedded in the driver’s seat. The seat pushes on the driver, and vibrates, very lightly for the entire ride.
It will be interesting to see if and when this technology shows up in new vehicles.
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