Another use of virtual reality simulation by Ford, in the companys quest for improved safety and ergonomics.
Appropriately dubbed the ‘Distraction Lab’, Ford’s Human Machine Interface Verification Laboratory has been busy at work duplicating the flighty attention span of the average teenage male. To achieve this, Ford engineers have outfitted research participants with special occlusion goggles, equipped with small LCD screens programmed to track the amount of time a driver spends with his eyes on and off the road. While wearing the goggles, test subjects are asked to engage in a simulated driving course that requires them to interact with Ford’s in-car infotainment system. By observing the amount of time that any given driver spends orienting himself with (or being otherwise distracted by) the informational system, as well as other outside stimuli, researchers may then determine how information should be displayed and accessed to minimize the risk of an accident.
“Occlusion testing is faster and a lot more efficient than other methods for determining eyes-off-road time and the potential for visual distraction,” explained John Shutko, Ford technical specialist in Human Factors and Ergonomics. “In the past, we used occlusion testing primarily to verify other research, but over the past couple of years we’ve been able to develop test models with the technology that allows us to rapidly complete research faster than ever before.”
Much like the principles held by their European subsidiary, Volvo, the primary objective of Ford’s exhaustive research is to accommodate drivers’ needs in the safest way possible. “Studies show voice-operated systems like SYNC offer significant safety benefits over hand-held manual devices,” says Dr. Louis Tijerina, Ford senior technical specialist. “If people are going to use nomadic devices – and there’s no reason to believe that they will stop – Ford wants to offer our customers a safer way to use them, through SYNC.”
Adapted from RideLust
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December 1st, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Except for the short interconnecting hops, expect me to be found in the bar car of an Electric Bullet Train, lounging back in a great comfortable seat, letting the computers take the white knuckled sweat out of travel for distances greater than up to a hundred kilometers – note! no more “Miles” in States at that time! Educators, to catch up to Asian schools insisted on this change when American students could no longer decipher new Sciences from Asia in the Centuries old “British Imperial” system! Expect the Bullet Trains by “Manhattan Project” style, job creation projects by the government after the next down cycle in our economy and the greatest depression ever! Found hidden in its troughs, and the acceleration of the fall of the dollar to “crash” velocities when the bail-outs come home to roost! 17 year olds will not be driving at that time! We are the world’s largest debtor nation and the marks are being called in as we speak, by the biggest players! We live far beyond our abilities to create wealth and visa vie the Asian economies we shrink fast! Battery cars will have slower speed, computer GPS controlled trajectories, and 17 year olds will be driving school desks only, until they catch up with their Asian counter-parts! The economy dictates the free-for-all in America is over! Ford, testing 17 year olds is short sighted, and folly under the circumstances!