Toyoda is tried of heart attack victims crashing their cars

The largest hurtle standing in the way of the self driving cars is not the ability to park, navigate icy roads, or main its cool in rush hour traffic, rather the largest hurtle to self driving cars is popular acceptance.  At our core, humans don’t believe that a computer is ready to be responsible for our lives.  This view has been drilled into us, by Window crashes, and the fact that rumba just keeps getting stuck under the couch.

This week, Toyoda announced a step toward autonomous cars but in a human friendly way.  Toyoda is installing ECG sensors in the steering wheels that can detect if you are having a heart attack.  In such a case the car will use cameras and millimeter-wave radar to detect possible crashes, and take control of the steering wheel as needed.

This is quite clever.  Had they announced that the cars use radar and cameras to drive themselves, the public would never accept it.  Instead, they presented this as: in the event of a heart attack, we will keep you from dying in a car wreck.  Who among us can argue with that?

Personally this announcement makes me happy, as it is one more foot in the door toward full autonomous cars whether we trust them or not.

Robotic Hand a little too close to home

Who has not thought to themselves: "I wish I could just wake up and know how to play the guitar."  Based on the popularity of the game Guitar Hero, I am guessing this is a common wish.  Thanks to researchers in Japan we are a little closer to just waking up with guitar skills.  With a new invention called: PossessedHand (creepy) a computer can take control of muscles in your hand, causing your fingers to twich and grip at will.  The computer uses a system of 24 electrodes attached to the forearm to create what is described as low level inputs.  The thought being that this system can guide your hand with timing and correct movement, but its up to you to provide the strength.



Guitar Hero Version 10?


I love the possibilities of this automated system, you could practice the guitar with this on your hand until the notes become muscle memory.  Is that cheating?  Would this eliminate musical variation from artists, as they all learn the exact same basics?  Probably.  Does that mean that I wouldn't try it if given the oportunity, no way.  Just make sure the "choke the user" reflex is turned off first.

See full article bellow:
http://lab.rekimoto.org/projects/possessedhand/

I can't wait for robots to drive.

I love and hate driving.  I love it on beautiful country roads or a well maintained stretch of the 101.  But I hate it during rush hour, at the end of a long and tiring day at the office.  So it is with open arms that I welcome selective auto driving technology like the self driving Google car:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/science/10google.html




Several auto driving announcements came out this week:


Volkswagen announced this week their latest auto drive technology, the "Temporary Auto Pilot" (TAP) which combines several production features together including cruise control and lane assist to perform drive the car while on a limited access road.  This is not quite to the level of being able to negotiate parking lots or stop signs but it is a step in the right direction, and frankly, it takes over some of the more boring and mundane aspects of driving (the long interstate).  Also, by using existing systems, VW can cut into the typical 5 year design cycle, and hopefully deliver this technology in the next couple years rather than the next 5-7.   See the press release below:
http://www.haveit-eu.org/displayITM1.asp?ITMID=117&LANG=EN

Ford announced their automatic driving tool: the V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle) communication.  In true US automaker fashion they announce a truly useless piece of technology.  Using a combination of GPS and Wi-Fi, V2V Ford vehicles can talk to each other, to alert near-by Fords of sudden stops and potential collisions.  The alerts are both auditory, and visually displayed on the navigation screen.  Then it is up to the driver to react accordingly.

It doesn't take a genius to see that Ford's system falls apart if any other vehicles on the road are not V2V enabled Fords.  The target audience of technological mana must be drivers with fast reflexes, poor vision, and an ability to focus on both the road and the Nav screen in tense driving situations.


Ford is banking on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to make such sensors mandatory in all vehicles.  May I take this opportunity to say: Henry, we are so sorry for the mess we made of your great company.  See the cnet review below:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20068130-48.html

First Post

This is the first Post of Sit Robot Sit; a blog dedicated the the advancement of technology.