From rolling hills to mountain ranges, views make any road trip memorable, but for blind passengers this is part of the experience they miss. Motor company Ford tries to change that. It teamed up with GTBRoma and AedoProject—to develop a technology that will give those unfortunate passengers a way to feel nature's beauty through their car windows.
The prototype of the smart car window has a device with an outside-facing camera. With just a press of a button, the system takes a picture of the current view. The colorful picture is then turned into an image with different shades of grey through LED lights, which vibrates differently. As the finger passes over different regions of the image, its shaking movements provide feedback through the sense of touch to the person using it. The smart window also comes with a voice assistant that uses AI to identify the scene and help the passengers get information on what they're seeing.
"As the prototype started taking shape, we realized we were giving birth to a completely new language that would give blind people a new chance to visualize and experience traveling," Federico Russo, one director of GTBRoma, said. "When the idea was at its first stage, we looked for suppliers all around the world to make it come to life. "He believes the technology can be employed not just in cars. "It could be introduced into schools and institutions for blind people as a tool that could be used in multiple ways. "
The technology may show up in a Ford autonomous vehicle. It's known that the company is testing their technology and future business model and struggling to figure out how an autonomous vehicle gives different passengers the details needed to get from one destination to another. It's unclear when this technology will be made available. However, the idea of building something for the less advanced is indeed a kind and influential action.
