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Opel Eye - Anti-speeding Technology
Opel is introducing a new safety technology that reads the traffic signs and displays them on your instrument panel in your car.
The Traffic Sign Detection can read speed limit and no-passing signs and even notify drivers when speed restrictions have been lifted. Depending on light conditions, the system begins to recognize and repeatedly read signs at 100 meters. If a picture matches an image of a road sign in the car's software, the sign is displayed in the instruments panel.
The system always displays the most relevant information for safe driving, filtering out many signs that may overwhelm drivers. If two signs are recognized in close proximity to one another, then special notice signs, like "no passing" restriction would take precedence over a speed limit sign.
Here is how it looks and works.
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Better usability
Although this is a very interesting technology, it is not the most usable implementation I have ever seen. A far better solution would be to incorporate it directly into the speedometer. This way you limit the time people have to read the instrument panel (which is very important), and it also allows the driver to see what his current speed is compared to the legal speed limit.
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Comments
Thomas Baekdal - Jun. 30, 2008
Matthijs, Indeed. We don't want people looking at something else than the road ahead, or at least we want to minimize it.
But the system allows you to see the legal speed limit anytime (not only when you are near a sign).
Alfie Goodrich - Jun. 30, 2008
And, if we dont want drivers looking at the instrument panel, why have one? It is there to provide information to the driver. Good binnacle information should be something that can be summed up with the glance of an eye, not the full attention of the driver. The system pictured on the bottom of the pics above might do that. Head-up-displays would be better but take some getting used to and are still costly. The whole issue of speed is an odd one: if there are speed limites set by governments and which are enforceable by law, why make cars that go faster than the speed limit? It is tantamount to the car makers encouraging us all to break the law. If we want to be as legal and as green as possible whilst petro-chemicals are still the fuels of the majority, then why not mechanically limit the car's speed and tie that in with intelligent signs that actually, physically enforce the speed limit rather than just provide information about it.
Ian - Jun. 30, 2008
How many times have i driven by an unknown area and asked myself what did the last sign say the speed limit was?
I am working on bachelor thesis on Computer Vision and Graphics at Aalborg University in Copenhagen and have seen many systems just like this done by researchers and students alike.
It turns out that they road signs aren't that difficult for a computer to pick.
But this is the first time i see the technology being used in the correct context. Looking at the image on the begging of the article makes me feel like the technology belongs there.
This just reinforces the fact that designers and engineers belong together.
Ian - Jun. 30, 2008
I rushed to write a comment because i got very exited when looking at the picture and didn't read your proposition. I have to say that it is brilliant , its a natural mapping and would require no user training. It does makes me think that the image recognition software becomes irrelevant and a GPS based system would be more suited.
Last thing; I have to mention that your proposition reminded me very much of http://www.lri.fr/~dragice/helical/#. I urge you to look at it. It has changed the way i use my calendar.
Andreas Ringdal - Jul. 20, 2008
This feature should be combined with the cruice control and a distance sensor (to the car in front) to allow automatic speed adjustment.
@IAN GPS systems are nice, but are rarely 100% updated. In cases of road work etc, speed limits might be temporary adjusted.
andreas
Andreas Ringdal - Sep. 23, 2008
Blaupunkt has now released this feature
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/29/blaupunkt-travelpilot-700-and-500-overlays-nav-info-on-realtime/
Published: Jun. 29, 2008
in Interaction Design
Thomas Baekdal is a Writer, Interaction Designer, Change Advocate and Project Manager.
matthijs - Jun. 29, 2008
Seems weird and wrong to me. Isn't the driver supposed to look on the road and see the signs himself? The more people watch their panels (tomtom!), the less they watch the road ahead.