Touch Screen Steering Wheel Developed By German Scientists

With everything becoming touch screen enabled these days, the latest thing to be added to this list is the good old steering wheel. A team of researchers from different universities and institutes have collaborated to create the first of its kind multiple-touch steering wheel hardware prototype. Scientists from the University of Duisenberg-Essen, University of Stuttgart and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence have developed this novel design. With the advent of technologies like mobile phones and texting, it has become slightly difficult for the drivers to concentrate completely on the road. The main objective of this invention is to let the driver manage everything without disturbing his attention from the road.

#-Link-Snipped-#

Computer expert Albert Schmidt, who was a part of this project, believes that the gesture recognition technology used by this prototype will help the drivers to stay focused on the road as almost all the controls are present on the wheel instead of being located behind the steering wheel or in the center console. The hi-tech auto part is 11 inches in thickness and has an acrylic body. On this is a ring of infrared LEDS. Actually, at the bottom of this steering wheel hardware is an infrared camera that senses the reflections as soon as the screen is touched. So, the gestures for controlling the radio or to navigate a map can be made with ease using the touch screen without taking your eyes off the road.

To create the prototype and decide the commands for it, the research team conducted a thorough survey and asked the people to give their opinions regarding the commands that should be included in this device. They then studied the movements and gestures currently used on technological devices in order to create the gestures for some 20 commands. Some of these gestures are similar to those used on our smartphones. For example, pinching the screen with two fingers to zoom in or zoom out, or tracing out the first alphabet of the command, etc. After the algorithm and design were completed, it was time for some simulation tests. Many participants or test subjects used this touch screen steering wheel in a simulator. After the analysis, the researchers found that the time for which a driver is required to take his eyes off the road was dramatically reduced.

The scientists want to include many new futuristic features in this steering wheel. For example, all the information can be projected onto the windscreen directly or a sensor system could be integrated with it that will detect the road conditions and alert the driver of any danger ahead.

This awesome technology was presented by the researchers at the ongoing the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The developers of this new design are currently discussing the prospect of using this technology in the future cars with automotive giants. Let’s hope that this thing replaces the traditional steering wheel soon.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-#