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EyeDriver Lets Drivers Steer Car With Their Eyes

Posted by timothy on from the would-be-dead-a-thousand-times dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "NPR reports that German researchers have tested a new technology called eyeDriver that tracks a driver's eye movement and, in turn, steers the car in whatever direction they're looking at speeds up to 31 mph. 'The next step will be to get it to drive 60 miles per hour,' says Raul Rojas, an artificial intelligence researcher at Berlin's Free University. A Dodge Caravan fitted with eyeDriver has been tested on the tarmac at an abandoned airport at Tempelhof Airport. However, it remains unclear when — or if — the technology will be commercialized, as questions about safety and practicability abound: What about looking at a cute girl next to the road for a few seconds? Not to mention taking phone calls or typing a text while driving. But the researchers have an answer to distracted drivers: 'The Spirit of Berlin' is also an autonomous car equipped with GPS navigation, scores of cameras, lasers, and scanners that enable it to drive by itself. And should the technology-packed vehicle have a major bug, there's still an old fashioned way of stopping it. Two big external emergency buttons at the rear of the car allow people outside to shut down all systems."

4 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Boobies by gront · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So we want cars to steer towards what we are looking at? Seriously? You want to have all the cute women in the world run over?

    1. Re:Boobies by gerf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Of course abnormal distractions would be bad. But just think of the normal ones like "road signs" or "checking blind spots" or "looking out for unexpected traffic." Yeah, this is neat, but with the inherent risks involved in driving as it is, probably a bad idea.

  2. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Two big external emergency buttons at the rear of the car allow people outside to shut down all systems"

    It can only be stopped if it is stopped...
    Or someone with a rock and extremely good aim!

  3. Why??? by Curate · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What problem is this actually trying to solve? Are people really finding it too difficult use their arms to drive? Or is this aimed at people who can't drive right now, because they have no arms?