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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."
Soon, drivers will be able to command vehicle functions with the wave of a hand.
Does this work on storm troopers too?
I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
-Xenocrates
Driver makes gestures
Car swerves down into a ditch
Hands not on the wheel
Cyde Weys Musings - Scrutinizing the inscrutable
Sounds like a recipe for a new rash of Road Rage incidents.
"Hey, a$$hole - you gonna flip me off like that, I'll show you!" (swerves and cuts off guy who's just trying to check his voicemail)
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
hands free ya know....
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
Does that make me a bad person?
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
It might be a problem for those who use sign language to speak to their passengers, but then, maybe signing while driving isn't such a great idea.
Behold the riant ape! Beware, his crooked thumbs!
Can't wait for this to be implemented for PCs. Maybe one day I can merely give the finger to my Windows computer at work instead of giving it the three-fingered salute. Certainly help prevent RSI.
I already have this.
If I place my hand on the device in front of me,
and I move my hand to the left, the car goes to the left. If I move my hand to the right, my car goes to the right.
There's a set of gestures I can make with my other hand to select something called a "gear". And the motion recognition even watches my feet, too!
-JDF
How about a few buttons on the steering wheel that correspond to standardized jacks used to interface things like your celluar phone and stereo? The stereo part is already done (in most Acura's for example), now just add celluar compatibility and provide one of those systems that turns you car into a speaker phone and your done.
Politicians and inventors seem to think that the cause of cell-phone related accidents has something to do with their hands being too occupied. I think it's quite obvious that the real problem is that people can't focus on two things at once. I don't think any of these new laws or hands-free technology will improve anything because little Susy driving around in her new BMW SUV that her daddy gave her isn't going to be saved when she's talking to Jennifer about how her boyfriend Chad just dumped her and she changes lanes into MY CAR!
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
Going back to the days when in Driver's Education, they teach that while driving you should keep your hands on the wheel at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions. While you may move your hands about the vehicle to perform certain tasks as changing the radio station etc. using hand gestures to control things within the car gives us the same problem that we have now. This problem is that people are using the hands that they should be driving with to do various other things within their vehicles. A voice command system would be much more valuable within a car as it would preclude the need to remove your hands from the steering wheel. Their argument in the article about voice recognition has holes in it. They say that cars are too noisy. If you've taken a ride in one of the newer cars with the windows up, and the radio off, it's rather quiet inside the car. Perhaps I just don't understand, but I still think that this would just be asking for trouble.
If you're looking here for something insightful or thought provoking, you're probably looking in the wrong place.
Hell, there have been car phones that respond to voice since 1986 at least. We used to have a GTE prototype. Gestures sound like a step backwards.
like your cell phone and stereo while keeping your eyes on the road
How about shut off the cell phone, tune the stereo to one station and pay attention to the road.
Solution: $0
Chance to get into an accident/kill someone: less
-- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
The big problem seems to be that the concentration isn't on traffic even with hands-off versions of mobile phones. True enough, there is not that gross inattentiveness associated with reading or writing text-messages, or other non-telecomms activities like applying makeup or reading the newspaper. Still, the concentration isn't where it ought to be during phone calls, I have experienced this myself, being on "autopilot" whilst talking. Enough to keep the vehicle following the road; but at the end of the conversation I realized I could not remember anything of what I had passed, even obvious things like small towns and intersections.
On the other hand, this idea of being able to quickly get commands across to various in-car systems seems exciting. Being able to turn on a music selection with a flick of the wrist certainly is vastly better than an in-car entertainment system full of pushbuttons. I got one of these here, and I never am able to work it unless the car is stationary.
SIGBUS @ NO-07.308
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.
...cover both eyes with your hands. Airbag will deploy shortly. No peeking!
If driving was simply a function of keeping your eyes on the road, there would be no problem... the thing is you have to PAY ATTENTION when you are driving. I don't remember where I saw the numbers, but I remember recently reading an article that suggested hands free cell phone uses drive as bad and crash as often as those who do not use hands free kits.
Now with the desire to integrate a LCD screens, DVD player, Video Games and a whole host of distractions I loath to think what driving will be like in the future. People need to just drive their car and worry about amusing themselves when they are not hurling down the road at 60 MPH.
Why not stick with the physical interfaces for cellphone, stereo, etc, but DRIVE using guesture recognition? How cool would it be to just have to point in the direction you wanted to go? Okay, not that cool, but I still like the idea
evil math within Nature's Cubic Creation!
method of controlling things like your cell phone and stereo while keeping your eyes on the road
First off- my stereo in my car displays the FM frequency info in the gauge cluster, at the top, and I know all the controls by feel; the button groups are shaped with surfaces to let you recognize which button group you're on. This feature was introduced in 1989 by Audi, and continues in every single model they make- so this is solving a problem that doesn't exist, frankly. If one manufacturer can do it, any can- it's just smart design and a little bit of extra electronics.
Regardless, The problem is NOT the "taking your eyes off the road" bit. The problem, time after time, is your mental focus.
Researchers found that when a driver is talking on the cell phone, it's almost like they enter a tunnel of sorts- they loose their situational awareness(ie, "where are the other cars around me?" "what is my speed?" etc.) and sort of blankly stare ahead. You can recognize anyone in this "mode"; they look like some kind of automaton.
Of course, the phone companies say "that's absurd, people in cars talk to the driver". That's right(even right to the extent that many states limit passengers for young drivers, who haven't enough experience)- but when you're talking to the driver (studies have shown that) you stop talking to them if the situation the driver is in gets complicated- ie, a merge, someone starts to cut them off, an exit is coming up, or they're looking for a turn to make- or even if the driver suddenly changes their body language- and even that act of stopping talking to them can give the driver a wakeup call. People on the other end of the phone can't do any of this, of course.
But, have you ever wondered why the cellphone industry is happily embracing the hands-free stuff? They get to sell extra accessories at an absurd profit margin compared to the phone unit itself- and it distracts everyone from the much more "dangerous"(to them) truth- that people can't talk to other people safely unless they're in the car, ie, cell phone calls by drivers should be illegal PERIOD.
Please help metamoderate.
They've been coming out with a couple interfaces that use gestures lately. Don't know how good they are though. Touchstream Keyboard
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.
Extended Warranty? How can I lose!
HOLY FUCK!
*makes vulcan sign*
*crashes into tree*
Windows
A fatal exception 0E has occured at 0028:C004CDCF in VXD VNTFS(01) +
00000B987. The current application will be terminated.
* Press any key to terminate the current application.
* Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE again to restart you computer. You will lose any unsaved information in all applications.
* Pray that one of the above will work.
Press any key to continue_
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
If I'm going to take my hands off the wheel, I want to do something quick and unambiguous, then out them right back where they were. Buttons and switches are simple, reliable, and give tactile feedback. When I flip a switch on my dash, I can feel it move, and heard it click. I know my will has been done and I can go back to driving the vehicle. With a gesture system, there will be a tendency to wait and see if the system has properly recognized your motions before returning your attention to the road This is bad.
Steering-wheel mounted controls are the way to go. Control the radio with you thumbs and maybe dial your phone with buttons in the middle of the wheel.
Controls need to be quick and simple. We don't have any laws saying you need a hands-free kit for your CB in any state that I know of because they aren't that distracting. A single button push or know twist will effect whatever changes you want, and no one hesitates to drop their mic if they need to, since they're desiged to handle it. Contrast this with a typical handheld cellphone: Tiny keys, poor tactile feedback, inefficient controls (volume buttons instead of a knob), tiny displays. Just think about how much time you take your eyes off the road to dial a seven digit number. Plenty of time to get you killed on the wrong day.
Voice dialing (for ANY number: "five-five-five-one-two-one-two"), volume control knobs, and a single button that takes the phone on and off-hook should be mandatory for all cellphones used while driving. NYS already has a law requiring the use of a "hands free" kit, but AFIAK just plugging and earbud into your phone satisfies that requrement.
Life is too short to proofread.
I hope it doesn't recognize gestures in the back seat....
I love old VWs, because there is nothing to mess with. It's about driving.
Now it's about eating, calling, tuning, drinking, shaving, beautifying, watching, reading, screwing, eating, listening, drinking, and eating.
True, but when that little green walking guy signal (when did we all forget how to read?) is on, I'm not a distraction, I'm claiming my right-of-way. And the next SUV-driving, cel-phone gabbing soccer-mom who nearly runs me over because its too much trouble to look out the windshield just might get a steel-toed boot in the fender.
And for the record, I used to drive 30k+ mile/year for yesr without an accident, I'm only a pedestrian now because some uninsured kid in a borrowed car destroyed my vehicle while argueing with his girlfriend on a cel phone.
Where is "arse-whuppin" justice when you need it?
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."
"ie, cell phone calls by drivers should be illegal PERIOD."
Come on, making something that is not a direct infringement on another person illegal is what should be illegal. I should be able to do whatever I want in my car while driving, even if it's really stupid. But, the instant that effects someone else (I hit someone/something) I should be punished accordingly (because I will have then actually infringed on someone).
Studies have shown that computer ownership and fast internet connections correlate to online file swapping. I think we'd be in agreement that computers, and the use of them to make/share MP3s when not violating copyrights, should be legal. It's only when you violate the copyright should you be punished...and you should be punished for violating that copyright, not owning/using a computer.
Same with cell phones. They, and the use of them, should be legal as long as that doesn't infringe on someone else. When you get in an accident cause you made that choice to talk, and accepted responsibility for that choice by making it, you should be punished for hitting someone...not for use/ownership of the phone.
I (unfortunately) see a world approaching where everything "good" will be mandated by law, and everything "bad" or "potentially bad" will be prohibited. You, my fellow man, are leading this march...and I wish you would stop.