Blind Drivers Test Retrofitted Car

Aug. 2, 2009— -- Thanks to a team of engineering students, several blind drivers had the chance to test-drive a new car that doesn't require sight.

On Friday, 20 blind people took turns taking control of a retrofitted four-wheel dune buggy designed by students at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering in Blacksburg, Va. The event was part of a program organized by the National Federation of the Blind to encourage high school students to pursue careers in science and technology.

The high-tech car was developed in response to a challenge issued to university students by the National Federation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute in 2004. Virginia Tech answered the call with a proposal in 2006 (the lone university to do so) and received a $3,000 grant to launch the project.

The car uses laser range finders, voice command software and other sensory technologies that help blind drivers navigate.

In July, Wesley Majerus, an access technology expert for the National Federation of the Blind, became the first blind person to drive the Virgina Tech car.

"At first, I was kind of nervous," Majerus, 28, said. "But once I got the hand of how it all worked, it was liberating."

Under the guidance of Dennis Hong, a mechanical engineering and robotics professor, nine undergraduates designed and constructed the car.

Inspired in part by technology that powers autonomous vehicles (cars that navigate without drivers), Virginia Tech's Blind Driver Challenge Team designed a multisensory interface that scans the environment for obstacles and gives the driver non-visual cues.

For example, a vest worn by the driver vibrates on one side when the driver needs to slow down and shakes entirely when the driver needs to come to a complete stop.

The laser range finder, which is connected to the steering wheel, uses a laser beam to determine the car's distance from the edge of the road and other objects. As the driver accelerates the car, a voice tells him how far to turn the wheel by indicating the number of "clicks" he must make. One click corresponds to about five degrees.

Hong said that while the project is intended to help the blind, the applications could extend to the entire population.