Cars getting safer and smarter

As technology progresses, the promise of interactive and, eventually, completely self-driving cars becomes more and more likely.  Every year sees new innovations designed to both keep people alive in case of an accident and to avoid accidents altogether.  Air bags and better building materials are pretty much a given at this point, and the next step looks to be smarter onboard computers.  Since the vast majority of car accidents are caused by driver failure, it makes since in a way that we’d ask computers to do some of the work for us.

One new development involves helping drivers to focus on the task at hand.  Using what is called visual Human-Machine Interface (HMI) technology, your car can essentially act as a co-pilot of sorts.  HMI uses an infrared camera that checks out your face and eyes as you drive to make sure you’re paying attention to the road.  If your focus drifts or you start to fall asleep, LED lights turn on to return your attention to what’s going on in front of you.  This is combined with other nifty little functions, such as warning you if you wander out of your lane, using a radar to maintain a proper distance between your car and others when using cruise control and even telling you to put on your brakes if a crash seems immanent.

Other companies are looking to take this a step further by perfecting that famous science fiction staple, the self-driving car.  Google has been working on it and plans to have it up and running at some point in the future.  Of course, they have more than a few problems to work out, including what methods would be used to test a self-driving vehicle to see if it’s capable enough to out-drive a human being.  So they’ll need a slightly bigger brain in the car before they can get it right.  Not to mention they’ll need to be able to prevent a software crash.  The blue screen of death at 80 MPH can equal real death for both the driver and others in harm’s way.

Still, more safety and smarter assistance sounds like a good idea, right?  Well, another group of studies has a differing opinion on the matter.  According to various experts, the technology of automation and safety may be having the opposite effect.  The theory is that as cars become safer, people become more reckless drivers, thinking that they’ll be protected from harm by technology.  Also, with less stimulus involved in driving a car, people tend to pay less attention to what’s going on.  Think about how many times you’ve drifted off or began watching the landscape while relying on your cruise control to carry you forward.

Personally, I’m all for smart cars and doubly so for cars that will drive themselves.  As long as they can work out the kinks, I’ll be first in line to grab a vehicle that allows me to nap or play video games on the way to work.

I, Robot Car photo courtesy of Eirik Newth via Wikicommons