Blind Take the Wheel in Voice Interface Vehicle
Wesley Majerus, an access technology specialist with the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute, finishes driving the Virginia Tech Blind Driver Challenge vehicle around a roped-off driving course on a campus parking lot. The experience, he said, was liberating. (Steven Mackay, Virginia Tech)
A student team in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is providing the blind with an opportunity many never thought possible: The opportunity to drive.
A retrofitted four-wheel dirt buggy developed by the Blind Driver Challenge team from Virginia Tech’s Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory uses laser range finders, an instant voice command interface and a host of other innovative, cutting-edge technology to guide blind drivers as they steer, brake, and accelerate. Although in the early testing stage, the National Federation of the Blind — which spurred the project — considers the vehicle a major breakthrough for independent living of the visually impaired.
“It was great!” said Wes Majerus, of Baltimore, the first blind person to drive the buggy on a closed course at the Virginia Tech campus this summer. Majerus is an access technology specialist with the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute in Baltimore, a research and training institute dedicated to developing technologies and services to help the blind achieve independence. (more…)
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