In 2004, the National Federation of the Blind dared universities across the country to the take the Blind Driver Challenge and create a car that people with visual impairments could drive. Two years later, Virginia Tech accepted that challenge and the robotics and mechanisms department students got to work on building a buggy with technology that uses a laser light detection and ranging system to identify obstacles in the road as well as other cars. The technology also includes two cameras to monitor the road and look out for lights and stop signs as well as a GPS system and an inertial measurement unit. The car’s computers gather the sensory information and relay that information to the driver through a headset and a vibrating vest.
The goal of the National Federation of the Blind was to show the world that blind people can do the same actives and live as normal of a life as people who can see. Virginia Tech’s goal was to actually create a working, street-ready car. In January of 2011, a Ford Escape equipped with a modified version of the buggy car technology was on display for all to see at the Daytona racetrack. This SUV uses the same technology in more fine tuned ways. The Escape uses a DriveGrip glove with a small vibrating motor on the knuckle of each finger in place of the vibrating vest. The more motors that vibrate means the sharper the driver must turn the wheel. As the blind drivers drove around the track, boxes were randomly thrown at them and drivers were able to steer around most of them as quickly as the sighted could.
This technology is a huge breakthrough in many aspects. It shows the world that we shouldn’t judge people for their so-called disabilities but for their abilities. Every person has the potential to do amazing things. If a blind person can drive a car, we can expect that they can do anything. In addition, it gives the visually impaired members of our society hope for the future. New technology such as the AirPix is allowing the blind to live fully in this new world of flat screen devices. The AirPix uses pressurized airflow to form “pictures’ that a blind person can view with her fingers much like she does with Braille.
Advances such as these allow us all to see a brighter future in which people with all disabilities are seen as people first, and they are able to live life to the fullest.