QuickPic | January 6, 2020

Ford’s Smart Window Displays View to Blind Passengers

• Ford’s Feel The View is a smart window for blind passengers
• Feel The View takes pictures that are turned into high-contrast monochrome images
• Smart Window enables blind or partially-sighted people to visualise passing scenery through touch.

PRETORIA, South Africa, 03 January 2020 – From rolling hills to mountain ranges, views make any road trip memorable, but for blind passengers this is part of the experience that they miss. A prototype smart car window aims to change this – by enabling blind or partially-sighted people to visualise passing scenery through touch.

Feel The View takes pictures that are turned into high-contrast monochrome images. These are then reproduced on the glass using special LEDs.

By touching the image, different shades of grey vibrate with a range of 255 intensities, allowing passengers to touch the scene and rebuild in their mind the landscape in front of them. Feel The View was conceived and developed by Ford of Italy and GTB Roma, in collaboration with Aedo – an Italian start-up that specialises in devices for the visually impaired.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/CDfqPMmNmmk

“We seek to make people’s lives better and this was a fantastic opportunity to help blind passengers experience a great aspect of driving. The technology is advanced, but the concept is simple – and could turn mundane journeys into truly memorable ones,” said Kuda Takura, Ford Motor Company of South Africa spokesperson.

For now, the technology is an early prototype, with no current plans for production.

Original article and image as supplied by QuickPic