Hand Gestures to Control you Car?

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, Mercedes-Benz showcased an experimental system called Dynamic & Intuitive Control Experience (DICE), which lets motorists control basic functions with hand gestures.

New technology allowing drivers to control car radios, telephones and climate with hand gestures or even by raising an eyebrow may not be far away.


Electronics experts think the technology will follow central control switches, touch-screens and voice commands and the audio firm Harman is already establishing a "gesture catalogue" based on human behaviour studies.

The system will have to be careful to avoid any hint of distracting drivers or people could be left open to prosecution but the company's director of technology, marketing and business development, Hans Roth, says that won't be a problem.

"It will be no different to taking your hands off the wheel to shift gear or change the radio station," he said.

"As with everything, it will be the responsibility of the driver to operate the car safely."

Harman, whose brands include Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL and Mark Levinson, is working on integrating gesture recognition into future systems but the gestures will need to be intuitive, easily recognised and differentiable by sensors.

Roth thinks that infra-red sensors will turn out to be the best solution for cars and that the best position for them will be near the gear lever so that they operate over just a small area.

Kids and Car Safety: Revaluating your car’s danger zones

The Perception: Your family car is a safe, fun, convenient way to travel.
The Reality: Your car, capable of exceeding speeds of 100 MPH and weighing more than one ton, is full of potential hazards, putting the safety of you and your children at risk.

Sure, the above reality may seem a little extreme. But with an average of 1,900 children ages 14 and under dying in car related accidents each year,¹ it is a reality that is impossible to ignore.

Now, this does not mean you should run right out and trade the family sedan or SUV in for a horse and buggy. Instead, this should serve as a positive reminder to never take car safety for granted. When it comes to protecting the lives of you and your children, take careful stock of the following car danger zones:

Blind Zones:

In the United States, an average of 50 kids EVERY WEEK are victim of a back over accident.² In many of these cases, the majority of the fault is due to a vehicle’s blind spot, meaning the driver simply does not see the person they are backing over.

Do not let this happen to your family. To ensure the safety of those around you, it is important to become familiar with your vehicle’s bind zones. Check out this handy blind spot chart from ConsumerReports.org for more information.

Air bags:

It is an undisputable fact: Air bags save lives. However, the unfortunate reality is that they also lull the driver and passenger into a false sense of security. This is especially true when it comes to a child’s safety. To make sure that your child is safe from injury due to air bag deployment, consult the following air bag safety checklist³:

• Never put a rear facing child seat in the front seat of a car with an air bag
• Always make sure that every child is buckled safely
• Always put your child in the rear seat: If this is not possible, move the seat back as far as possible
• Never let your children (or any passengers for that matter) ride unbuckled

Power Windows:

Did you know that 22 pounds of force can suffocate or choke a child? And did you know that according to KidsandCars.org, a car's power window can exert upwards of 30-80 pounds of force.⁴ In short, your car's power windows are an often overlooked danger. To ensure your child’s car safety consider the following precautions:

• Never leave your child alone in the car – EVER
• Pay close attention to the design of your car’s power window switches. Cars with switches that are recessed and need to be pulled, not pushed, are considered the safest.

Remember, your car is a great resource. But it is also full of potential danger. The best way to ensure car safety is to increase your vigilance.

Resources:

1 – http://www.safekids.org/our-work/research/fact-sheets/motor-vehicle-safety-fact-sheet.html
2 – http://www.kidsandcars.org/userfiles/dangers/backovers/backovers-50-children-backed-over-every-week.pdf
3 -http://www.ou.edu/oupd/kidseat.htm
4 - http://www.kidsandcars.org/power-windows.html