Skip to main content

Car driven by man who is blind

Here's a press release I just thought some would find interesting.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE







CONTACT:


John G. Paré Jr.


Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives


National Federation of the Blind


(410) 659-9314, extension 2218


(410) 917-1965 (Cell)


jpare@nfb.org






Blind Man Drives Car Independently
Avoids Dynamic Obstacles






Baltimore, Maryland (January 29, 2011): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest and largest organization of blind people in the nation, announced today that for the first time a blind individual has driven a street vehicle in public without the assistance of a sighted person. Mark Anthony Riccobono, a blind executive who directs technology, research, and education programs for the organization, was behind the wheel of a Ford Escape hybrid equipped with nonvisual technology and successfully navigated 1.5 miles of the road course section of the famed track at the Daytona International Speedway.






The historic demonstration was part of pre-race activities leading up to the Rolex 24 At Daytona this morning. Mr. Riccobono not only successfully navigated the several turns of the road course but also avoided obstacles, some of which were stationary and some of which were thrown into his path at random from a van driving in front of him. Later he successfully passed the van without collision. The Ford Escape was equipped with laser range-finding censors that conveyed information to a computer inside the vehicle, allowing it to create and constantly update a three-dimensional map of the road environment. The computer sent directions to vibrating gloves on the driver’s hands, indicating which way to steer, and to a vibrating strip on which he was seated, indicating when to speed up, slow down, or stop.






Mr. Riccobono said: “The NFB’s leadership in the Blind Driver Challenge™ has taken something almost everyone believed was an impossible dream and turned it into reality. It was thrilling for me to be behind the wheel, but even more thrilling to hear the cheers from my blind brothers and sisters in the grandstands*—today all of the members of the NFB helped drive us forward*. It is for them and for all blind Americans that the National Federation of the Blind undertook this project to show that blind people can do anything that our sighted friends and colleagues can do as long as we have access to information through nonvisual means. Today we have demonstrated that truth to the nation and the world.”






Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Just as our colleague Mark Riccobono successfully surmounted many obstacles on the Daytona course today, blind people routinely surmount barriers by using alternative techniques and technologies. When there is not a solution available, we muster our resources and combine them with those of the partners who make common cause with us to produce the innovations necessary to create such a solution. That is how the NFB Blind Driver Challenge™ came to happen, and that is how we will make all of our dreams come true.”






The NFB Blind Driver Challenge™ is a research project of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute—the only research and training facility on blindness operated by the blind. The Jernigan Institute challenged universities, technology developers, and other interested innovators to establish NFB Blind Driver Challenge™ (BDC) teams, in collaboration with the NFB, to build interface technologies that will empower blind people to drive a car independently. The purpose of the NFB Blind Driver Challenge™ is to stimulate the development of nonvisual interface technology. The Virginia Tech/TORC NFB BDC team, under the direction of Dr. Dennis Hong, director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at Virginia Tech., is the only team that has accepted the challenge. The team uses the ByWire XGV™ developed by TORC technologies as the research platform for the development and testing of the nonvisual interface technologies that allow a blind person to drive.






For more information about the NFB, please visit www.nfb.org. For our digital news release about the Blind Driver Challenge™ and the debut of the BDC car at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including audio and video clips for television and radio, please visit www.DigitalNewsRelease.com/?q=NFB_CarKit.






###










About the National Federation of the Blind






With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.














Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ratner's Cheesecake

Here's another recipe from Toby! Thanks Toby......and I'll get the others posted soon! Ratner's Cheesecake and plain cookies Ratner's was a Jewish dairy restaurant in the lower East Side of Manhattan. This recipe, from my disintegrating, no longer in print Ratner's cookbook, is the closest I've ever gotten to reproducing the rich, heavy cheesecake my mother made when I was a kid. It's worth the time it takes to prepare and every last calorie. Dough Can be prepared in advance. Makes enough for two cakes. Can be frozen or used to make cookies – see recipe below. 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon lemon extract 1 cup butter 2 eggs 3 cups sifted cake flour ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients with hands. Refrigerate 3 -4 hours, or preferably overnight. Filling (for...

Some good news about Pirfenidone

Below is a press release from Intermune, the company that makes Pirfenidone. They have essentially reviewed the various clinical trials going on, and decided that Pirfenidone is safe and well tolerated. That would pretty much go along with what we've observed in the HPS community as well. We have a few folks that have been on the drug since the late 90s and continue to do well. Of course, as a journalist, I do have to say consider the source - but at the same time, as someone in a Pirfenidone trial, it's good to know. Results of Comprehensive Safety Analysis of pirfenidone In IPF Patients Presented At European Respiratory Meeting - Analysis shows safety and tolerability of pirfenidone across four clinical trials - VIENNA, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN ) today announced that the results of a comprehensive review of safety data from four clinical studies were presented at the 2009 European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in Vienna, Austria...

The next generation with Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome

I'm so behind on posting about the trip to Puerto Rico. Since the episode of Mystery Diagnosis on Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome ran right after we got home, it's been a little busy. These, however, are my favorite pictures from Puerto Rico. I know, not pretty senery etc - but these little guys and gals inspire me. They are the next generation of folks with HPS, and if we keep up the hard work, they will live better lives because of it. They motivate me.