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Gesture Control for Automotive Peripherals
j-rock nowhere writes "An article in Automotive Design and productions' Field Guide to Automotive Technology describes a possible future method of controlling things like your cell phone and stereo while keeping your eyes on the road."
RTFA
the system has a camera positioned in the center console area pointed up at the roof so that the space in which the driver makes command gestures is essentially the same as where a gearshift lever might be. The thinking is to keep the operation of the system as familiar and natural as possible so that the driver won't be distracted from watching the road. (Another benefit is that since the gestures are made at a low level in the center of the vehicle other drivers are not likely to see them and interpret them as digital expletives.)
I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
-Xenocrates
Research has shown that the largest affect of a Cell Phone conversation on a driver is in fact the level of concentration required to listen, think and converse with the other party.
Not having a phone held awkwardly while driving is a big help but you still loose a lot of your concentration on the road.
It sounds like an innovative control method but it still won't keep concentration purely on the road.
Keeping your brain focused and in gear is the real problem with cell phones and other gadgets.
"It's not just the physical distraction of holding the handset -- there's the intellectual distraction of holding the conversation."
"...cell phone conversations using "hands-free" devices are just as likely to cause dangerous distractions as those conducted on hand held phones."
"There is a very substantial decrease in the amount of brain activity, the amount of neural activity allocated to driving, while you are simultaneously listening,"
Hang up and drive.
In terms of using a hands-free mobile phone, drivers also found them to be a considerable distraction and researchers established that participants found it easier to drive drunk than when using a mobile phone - either hand-held or hands-free.
The Utah study differed from others because it didn't examine the distractions of dialing or holding a phone. Instead, it tried to focus solely on the distractions of having a conversation, Strayer said
the cognitive distraction caused by simultaneously maintaining a phone conversation and driving is undiminished. Driving while using a hands-free phone causes substantial distraction, resulting in significant driver impairment.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
A survey says cellphone users, even hands-free, more easily distracted during driving ... even when not using the cell-phone!
The conclusion assumes the survey is answered honestly. Suppose that the survey actually matches with some accident reports, then doesn't the survey merely indicate that some people are pretending to be distracted by something else besides the cellphone?
Personally, I've found that using the phone while I drive was very difficult at first, even though I was a very experienced driver when first I tried it. During the learning process, I nearly ignored a stop sign and a red light, simply because a conversation or call was extremely important to me. Even now, I would probably look for an opportunity to pull off the road if knew something like that would be happening. I believe I'm a good multi-tasker, but it doesn't make sense to me to multi-task driving with any other activity of vital importance. The most difficult conversations are the emotional ones, and I'm not talking about the kind of emotional show needed to bawl out a company rep. for conveniently (to the company) mishandling a regular payment.