Vibrating car will warn of danger
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Scientists at Oxford University are working with Denso, a Japanese car maker, to design vehicles with tactile warning alarms built in to the seat, seatbelt, steering wheel and foot pedals.
The aim is to send vibrations to sensitive parts of a driver's body so that they can be warned of possible danger within a fraction of a second of it being detected by the car's computer.
Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at Oxford, said the sense of touch has not been exploited by car makers before and yet touch is a key aspect of human awareness.
"We need something else other than sound and I think touch is the really exciting thing to work on," Dr Spence said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments