For many blind people, driving a car long has been considered impossible. However, there comes a ray of hope from the National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech who together have demonstrated a prototype vehicle equipped with non-visual interface technology that enables visually impaired people to drive a car independently. The technology incorporates sensors that transmits information of vicinity he/she drives in, enabling visually impaired to maneuver his car.
Though the project is a pipe dream as of now, but the researchers are determined to ward off the limitations of blind people in this field. The vehicle roots are in Virginia Tech’s 2007 entry into the DARPA Grand Challenge wherein university’s team won third place for a self-driving vehicle. This latest vehicle is University’s response to a challenge from the National Federation of the Blind to help build a car that could be driven by a blind person.
