BLACKSBURG, VA – You may have often thought some drivers around you were blind, but a student team at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering has developed a vehicle the blind can indeed drive.

The four-wheel dirt buggy developed by the Blind Driver Challenge Team relies on laser range finders, voice command interface and other technology to allow blind drivers to operate the vehicle.

The project evolved from a challenge by the National Federation of the Blind five years ago to American universities to design a vehicle a blind person could drive.

Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering was the only school to take up the challenge.

Although still in the early testing stage, the National Federation of the Blind considers the vehicle a major breakthrough for independent living of the visually impaired, says a reporter for Virginia Tech news.

“Sitting inside the vehicle, a blind driver can turn the steering wheel, stop and accelerate by following data from a computing unit that uses sensory information from the laser range finder serving as the ‘eyes’ of the driver, in addition to a combination of voice commands and a vibrating vest as guides,” according to the report.

Even if the tests of the vehicle are successful, laws barring the blind from driving and public perception will have to be changed, says Mark Riccobono, executive director of the National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute, who test drove the Virginia Tech vehicle.

For the full story see: National Federation of the Blind’s Jernigan Institute

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