Mind-Reading Car Could Drive You Round the Bend 2

[Xera]

This article was in a newsfeed I receive from NSPE. I am all for technlogy, but are we heading towards a life of just sitting and thinking? It makes me think of the movie WALL-E. Where the people are so large and out of shape that they can not do anything, because technology does it for them.

What do you all think?

"Mind-Reading Car Could Drive You Round the Bend
Guardian (United Kingdom) (09/28/11) Jones, Sam

The Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) is trying to help Nissan incorporate brain-machine interface (BMI) technology into its vehicles. The goal is to enable vehicles to read the mind of its driver and predict the next maneuver to improve road safety. BMI technology requires an extremely high level of human concentration, so EPFL researchers are using statistical analysis to predict driving behavior and to evaluate a driver's cognitive state relevant to the driving environment. A BMI-enabled car would measure brain activity, monitor patterns of eye movement, and scan the environment around the car. The vehicles may be able to prepare themselves for a left or right turn--selecting the correct speed and positioning--by gauging that their drivers are thinking about making such a turn. "During our collaboration with EPFL, I believe we will not only be able to contribute to the scientific community but we will also find engineering solutions that will bring us close to providing easy access to personal mobility for everyone," says Nissan's Lucian Gheorghe."

 

[MiketheEngineer]

I know I will get flak over this - BUT will blondes be allowed to use it??

 

[SnTMan]

Maybe it'll even engage the turn signal early enough for other drivers to make allowances

Regards,

Mike

 

[drawoh]

Xera,

I wonder how this technology will work if your mind was not fully on driving. Perhaps your attention is on that blonde in the short dress on the sidewalk.

The car is taking input from multiple sources. Its behaviour will be unpredictable.

JHG

 

[btrueblood]

Drawoh,

Maybe it will honk the horn for you, or play a recorded "Hey Baby"...

 

[Xera]

I agree. People think about and do everything while driving, except driving and the other drivers. Cell phones and ipods have not helped either. It is really scary if you watch people as you drive by them. I have seen people reading books, putting on make up and changing clothes while trying to drive. Maybe this will help?

 

[cranky108]

A new meaning to the song "she drives me crazy".

But hey, now you really can drive from the back seat.

 

[ornerynorsk]

Yes, what Xera said. There are times when my mind is on everything EXCEPT driving, but I assume muscle memory/programmed reflex is handily at work in this situation. The brain~machine interface is ME!

Our motor control becomes so rote and automatic in repetitious activities, and is really quite reliable, when one considers it.

I would be scared witless if I knew there were cars on the road being driven by a machine that was using LITERAL feedback of brain activity from the driver. I don't think most people have the kind of attention span to drive to the local market, let alone hundreds of miles on a cross-country trip.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[TED7]

Im still convinced my generation (the ones who are still in their 20s) are rubbish drivers in adverse conditions because we have grown up with abs, cruise control, front wheel drive, traction control and now electronic stability control. My dads generaton had to make do with rear wheel drive in the snow and brakes that did anything but and is a better (note: not safer necessarily) driver because of it.

Surely every time we add assists to a car, we require less attention to drive one. I got a rude awakening once when I tried to stop in the snow, the ABS reassuringly kicked in and I relaxed in the knowlage it would stop me so long as I kept my foot down. That was the day I learnt ABS is not for helping you stop. I appreciate the marketing boost 'safety' systems add but I cant help but think we are becoming more dangerous drivers because of them.

Designer of machine tools - user of modified screws

 

[SnTMan]

Ninja182, I agree 100%, I am probably closer to your dad's generation than to yours.

They are going to HAVE to make cars that drive themselves, because as the cars keep getting better and better, the drivers get worse and worse.

Regards,

Mike

 

[KENAT]

This is like the discussion about similar technology used on aircraft and how pilot skills may have degraded because of it.

However, aircraft safety overall has increased.

So, perhaps the trade off actually makes sense?

Now I'm a bit more skeptical on cars because in many respects it's a more complex situation much of the time with other non logical/pseudo random factors coming in to play but still, maybe it's not completely crazy.

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[cranky108]

Sometimes I believe I scare the person behind me. I simply gear down, and the person behind me panics because they don't see any breake lights, yet I am slowing down.

Can the new cars also engage the clutch, and change gears?

What ever happened to "simplicity" in design.

The new cars also have alarm systems, which I find a half waste of time, because half the people can't drive a stick.

 

[SnTMan]

cranky108, from my observations, I am not sure drivers of automatic transmissions realize they can coast down, it's either on the gas or on the brakes.

 

[drawoh]

cranky108,

I drive a manual transmission too.

One of the advantages of a manual transmission is that sometimes, you do not want to gear up. In a parking lot or in the narrow back lane behind my house, I drive in first gear. On narrow residential streets with parked cars and children, I drive in second gear. I use third and fourth gears similarly at various times. If I am going too fast, I can hear the engine. I am not watching the speedometer. I am watching the road in front of me.

I now have a car with ABS. I like it partially because it give me immediate tactile feedback that I am braking on a slippery road. Still, for a very long time, almost all passenger cars have grossly overassisted power brakes. It is hard to modulate pedal pressure, which is what you should be doing if you are a skilled winter driver.

The ABS tells you when you are not doing it right. This is better than learning from the rear of the car in front of you.

JHG

 

[LSpark]

If the car could sort out all the other stuff I think about whilst driving I'd be even more impressed.

Plenty of people who drive manual cars think they always need to be pressing the accelerator or brake too, it's not confined to automatics!

I rarely have ABS or traction control cut in (I drive a manual in the UK), so have driven plenty of cars without ABS, traction control or even power assisted steering.

Are US drivers more likely to use traction control as engine powers tend to be higher?

 

[MikeHalloran]

I hardly ever bump against the traction control in the dry, because tires for a Z28 are damn expensive and the t/c does allow a little slip.

In heavy rain, though, I love to just stand on it and let the t/c take care of modulation. Doesn't do anything for the front tires, of course, so with the thrust center behind the CG and the fronts more or less floating, you need exaggerated steering input, not unlike a boat rudder, to keep the front end ahead of the back end.

I think the Positraction dance was more fun, but t/c has its charms.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[SomptingGuy]

"However, aircraft safety overall has increased."

Maybe, but the commercial pilots now use their pent-up testostorone flying small aircraft for fun ... and crashing them.

- Steve

 

[cranky108]

So traction control must be a new thing. My newest car is 11 years old, and it dosen't have it. And apperently it dosen't need it.

Yes I do spin the tires at the stop light at times. But in all fairness, they should clean up the sand and gravel that collects there.

So is the Positraction dance simular to the limited slip dance of a jeep in deep mud?

 

[SomptingGuy]

Lack of traction control is a marketing thing. In a country with no corners, cars don't need it and are supposed to lay rubber and squeel whenever they pull away. Even on grass and sand (if you believe the TV shows).

- Steve