Shape of things to comeDrivers can now guide a car using their eyes, not hands
German researchers develop a system which allows drivers to steer their cars using only their eyes: the wheel is turned in the direction the driver is looking; if the driver is distracted, the car begin to drive autonomously; and this, too: drivers may opt to use an iPhone application which lets them to control the car remotely
Here is good news for soldiers in the field and first responders: What if you are tired of spinning that steering wheel, or must use your hands for other things (holding a weapon, pushing buttons on the communication equipment, holding up a radiation monitor? Try this: German researchers have developed a new technology that lets drivers steer cars using only their eyes.
Raul Rojas, an artificial intelligence researcher at Berlin’s Free University, said Friday that the technology tracks a driver’s eye movement and, in turn, steers the car in whatever direction they are looking.
Rojas and his team presented the technology-packed prototype at an airport in the German capital. The Dodge Caravan crisscrossed the tarmac at the abandoned Tempelhof Airport, its driver using his line of sight to control the car. The car’s steering wheel was turning as if guided by ghostly hands.
The technology called eyeDriver lets the car drive up to 31 mph (50 kph). “The next step will be to get it to drive 60 miles per hour,” Rojas said.
Ultimately, however, the Mexican-born researcher is aiming for even more: “The biggest challenge is of course to drive in a city with pedestrians and lots of obstacles.”
For now, exercises remain relatively simple. The Dodge chases a pedestrian or another car across the tarmac and shows his agility and even drives backward - the driver only has to look into the rear mirror to guide the car.
It remains unclear, however, when — or whether — 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.
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.
“The car can do everything. It can drive autonomously or it can be guided by a driver’s eyes,” Rojas said. The compromise is a mode that has the car driving on its own, basing its decisions on input from scanners and cameras, and only requires the driver to give guidance at crossroads. “The car stops at intersections and asks the driver for guidance on which road to take,” the researchers say. A few seconds of attention with the driver looking in his desired direction
