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App Can Prevent Users From Texting While Driving

Posted by timothy on from the I-was-just-context-switching dept.

Hugh Pickens writes writes "Scientific American reports that while laws prohibit texting while driving in many states, many people still find it impossible to resist. Now researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are studying how software on a cell phone could analyze keystrokes to determine when that phone's user is distracted while composing and sending text messages and combined with GPS and other data, determine when a texter is behind the wheel and shut off texting functions automatically. Such a feature could take the form of a mobile app for any phone—independent of the manufacturer, operating system and wireless service provider. The researchers programmed a cell phone to log keystroke dynamics using a common operating system as a means of determining if an individual was texting while driving, in particular, 'keystroke entropy.' (PDF) when keys are struck at irregular intervals, as an indicator that the test subjects' attention is divided between texting and driving. 'The things that we are measuring, the data never needs to leave the person's phone,' says Mike Watkins, developer of the algorithm. 'But as a parent, you could require your child to have something like this on their cellphone as a way to protect them. Employers could use it as a way to mitigate their liability for accidents on work time. Even insurance companies could use it.'"

14 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. won't work. by flogger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    when keys are struck at irregular intervals, as an indicator that the test subjects' attention is divided between texting and driving.

    So the way to get around that, if you are the teen forced to have this app, is to pay less attention on driving and focus on the texting.

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  2. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... if it's measuring keystroke entropy, wouldn't that mean the person is already starting to text? I've seen lots of solutions like this before (flash random letters/numbers, require parroting those letters/numbers, etc), and it's the same issue: you're responding to something someone is doing instead of proactively not allowing the person to do it in the first place. Essentially, the person could already be causing a problem on the road.

    In other words, it's an interesting piece of academic work that I'm sure has applications elsewhere, however it's not going to solve the problem of texting behind the wheel.

  3. Re:If it works... by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about lets make cars that can't go faster than XX miles per hour? How about we put a chip in the car that automatically finds where the car is via GPS and will throttle the engine so it can't break the speed limit?

    Just because something is technically possible doesn't mean its worth the damage to freedom.

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  4. Public Transport by p0p0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So basically they are taking it upon themselves to ban you from texting in a public transport, or as a passenger. Many rides are bumpy enough and anyone carrying on a conversation might seem distracted enough for the app to trigger.

    All this is going to do is force drivers to pay MORE attention to the phone as they don't want their message to be cancelled by the app.

  5. What a pain! by jittles · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The GPS built into my car has this capability already. What was the first thing I did when I got the car home? I took the damn thing apart and disabled the system that prevents you from using the GPS while driving. Why? Because I like to have passengers in my car. Its perfectly safe for a passenger to use the GPS all they want while I am driving. Hell they can even watch a DVD in the surround sound system in the car while I drive. I don't care. I'm not distracted by it, so what does it matter? (Though I will say in most jurisdictions just being able to see the movie is grounds for a moving violation, so be careful.)

    Anyway, this software is likely to think that a passenger who is texting while talking to other people in the car are distracted drivers as well. Why don't we just give up on using technology to babysit people in these areas and start teaching people responsibility? If there is a way to disable texting while driving, someone can re enable it by rooting/jailbreaking their phone and modifying the software. What is the point in entering this arms race? People need to learn to make intelligent decisions, and not have intelligent decisions forced upon them.

    1. Re:What a pain! by mlts · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Ford SYNC system does this already. If the car is going more than 3 miles/hour, you can't do a lot of functions, including look through an address book unless you use the voice features.

      The problem is two things: Bad drivers, and sue-happy people. If a wreck happens, the attorneys involved want to go after the people with the deep pockets, not the party at fault. So, this is why Ford and other makers have to put this brain-damaged crap in their vehicles, just so they can claim they did their due diligence in dealing with the idiots.

  6. Only while in motion by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

    The article says the error rate would be combined with GPS. Only erratic typing while driving or while riding public transit would result in a block.

    1. Re:Only while in motion by icebike · · Score: 4, Informative

      The article says the error rate would be combined with GPS. Only erratic typing while driving or while riding public transit would result in a block.

      Or erratic typing while on a car's passenger seat, Anyway, preventing erratic typing while on public transport seems like a rather large problem to me.

      When reading the linked article, (I know, this is slashdot), they seem to suggest that the typing patterns and cadences are unique to driving:

      After evaluating the sensitivity of the keystroke entropy indicator against the number of keystrokes recorded, the researchers found they could accurately and relatively quickly identify when a test subject had been both texting and operating the simulator. They found normal texting took on more rhythmic patterns.

      I suspect that even on the bus sitting next to some random dodgy character you would type in a more normal cadence, even allowing for a bumpy ride. You could probably type a whole sentence in your normal text-speak without more than one or two breaks in rhythm as opposed to pauses mid-word.

      So it might well be able to distinguish bus and passenger seat users from drivers.

      I could see that a passenger engaged in watching the scenery might actually text as distractedly as a driver, but they have a choice of texting or watching, and could modify their texting style to "git er done" in one go, which is an option the driver doesn't rationally have. (To the degree that rationality enters the discussion).

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    2. Re:Only while in motion by e3m4n · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the unforseen consequence is that people will likely give even less attention to the road and focus more attentively on texting to make sure their text doesnt get disabled. In essence it might save some, but others will pay even less attention to the road and they will make up for any gains of the few you save from mistakes.

  7. No! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would never install an app that detected when I was driving and shut

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  8. Re:If it works... by EGSonikku · · Score: 4, Funny

    ....while driving...and texting.

    Dangerous, but makes you God anyway so whatever.

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    - "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
  9. Re:If it works... by green1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    how about completely ignoring what a person is doing, and only punish them if they are driving recklessly, regardless of the cause. We have laws against reckless driving already. don't make up new ones for each thing a person could possibly imagine doing. You'll never get every possible stupid act in a list anyway, and you will punish people who are actually being safe. I now live in a place where it's illegal to glance at the screen of your cell phone while stopped with the gear selector in park waiting for a 15 minute train to go by, and yet driving 20 under the limit in the fast lane on the expressway is perfectly fine. more laws isn't the answer, enforce the ones we already have instead.

    I also wonder how long before we get stuck in a situation where cars drive themselves, but the person sitting in the driver's seat isn't allowed to do anything while there because of outdated laws that rarely if ever get taken off the books.

  10. Until the first lawsuit hits... by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 4, Interesting

    People that have been kidnapped have texted from the trunks of cars alerting others to what is going on. Imagine if those texts were blocked because you were in a moving vehicle and you were not typing normally?

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  11. Re:If it works... by Zibodiz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about we put a chip in the car that automatically finds where the car is via GPS and will throttle the engine so it can't break the speed limit?

    If they did that, police would lose a huge revenue stream. Not going to happen.