Video games have steering wheels / game controllers with vibrating feedback to tell the user about what's happening. Some rental RVs have "radar" that emits a sound when you're about to reverse into an obstacle, so just replace the sound with vibrating feedback. This might reduce people accidently cutting people off, if your car could warn you that something was in your blindspot....
-- mhh5, Jul 08 2001

BMW Adopts Immersion Technology for Adding Simulated Touch to Automobile Controls http://www.immersion.com/news/000501.html
Baking as we speak... [rmutt, Jul 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Truckers might get it first. In their seats, though... http://www.latimes....eadlines-technology
Next generation trucks will have this feature, but the seat will vibrate, not the steering wheel. [mhh5, Jul 08 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Sold. I'd like to see this feature bundled with the self-activating turn-signal indicator as the Lane Exchanger option.
-- The Military, Jul 09 2001


See search "In the mud" for related idea.
-- rayfo, Jul 09 2001


Driving on the sidewalk gave me tennis elbow.
-- Dewey, Jul 09 2001


I used to have an MG Midget (with no power, direct rack and pinion steering), and believe me, you get all the vibration feedback necessary without any artificial gizmos.
-- goff, Jul 09 2001


The electronic steering wheels for computers are designed to simulate the feedback you get from a normal car steering wheel anyway. You only get large amounts of feedback from these steering wheels coz you're driving a sports car, and the game wants to provide you with something more challenging than driving your normal car to work.
-- kaz, Feb 03 2002


Hm. Somewhat analagous to the 'stick shaker' in aircraft (usually expensive aircraft) that tell the pilot, via haptics, that something is very wrong or soon will be very wrong. Usually the warnings relate to either an approaching stall or an overspeed condition, mach buffetting.
-- bristolz, May 12 2002


It's difficult for a machine to actually work out that something is a collision risk, or rather, sensing the obstruction is the hard bit. Wouldn't it be better to provide a proper view of the blind spot to the driver? I can see the current bad drivers (signal/manoeuvre/mirror/oh dear there's something there I'd better jerk the car back into my original lane), just using the device as an excuse on which to blame an accident.
-- drew, May 12 2002


One problem is response time for tactile stimuli is very slow when compared with the audial stimuli...
-- Aykam, May 17 2002



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