EyeDriver Lets Drivers Steer Car With Their Eyes

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."

Comments

Boobies

[gront]

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?

Re:Boobies

[gerf]

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.

Re:Boobies

[Quantumplation]

Passenger: "I'd hit that!"
Driver: "Yea, so would I!"

What next?

[Some.Net(Guy)]

Once they figure out how to steer the car by thought, I'm going to be at Taco Bell a lot.

Re:What next?

[masmullin]

I was thinking Arby's

So...

[Anonymous Coward]

"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!

Re:So...

[Bill Dog]

Hmm, yes, I guess it's only fair that if a driver can aim their car at someone by staring at them, they should be able to thwart the reckless lecher by staring back.

They should also add a blink detection system. To determine who wins. ;)

I'll wait for the iDriver

[LodCrappo]

Kind of like the EyeDriver, but Steve Jobs drives your car with his own eyes. This ensures a consistent driving experience, so long as you only want to go where he sends you.

Why???

[Curate]

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?

Re:Why???

[AnonymousClown]

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?

Well, one arm to hold a cell phone, another to hold your: sandwich, doughnut, coffee, burger, fries, or coke.

So yes, most people don't have arms to spare.

Blinking Yellow Lights.

[Ungrounded Lightning]

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?

While the comment WAS funny there is a problem with something like that already.

It's been known for decades that drunk drivers tend to fixate on flashing yellow lights and then steer toward them. This makes using flashing yellow lights as a warning counter-productive.

Oregon, for instance, long ago switched away from blinky-yellow lights to the rear on police cars to use as warning lights when they have people pulled over - with a significant reduction in car-hits-cop-at-traffic-stop incidents.

California, of course, has standardized on big yellow blinky-lights for cop car pullover warnings. (I recall a few years back when San Jose was lamenting how many of their new fleet of cruisers had been smashed by drunk drivers that year...)