Ford revolutionizes car windows with its new visibility system for blind passengers

The automotive world increasingly welcomes better and better innovations, which are directly linked to the latest technology, and many brands constantly demonstrate this. Ford is part of that field of research whose main objective is to make it easier for disabled people to drive a vehicle, but on this occasion the American firm has wanted to go even further. Its latest creation is the smart windows, which will provide a range of sensations through other senses to blind people.

To achieve this goal, Ford has turned to a new and innovative system built into the vehicle’s own windows, with the aim of perceiving the landscape around us without needing to use sight. To do so, touch becomes the main channel to our brain, since this method will allow blind people or those with partial vision to use only their fingers to find out what is happening outside.

For the moment it is a prototype, but Ford will gradually apply these new technologies to its future models, which will adapt to the different needs of its customers. However, a meticulous amount of work is still needed before the definitive model can be launched on the market, and in the meantime, we can glimpse the advances offered by this smart window.

This innovation has been developed by Ford Italy and GTB Roma in collaboration with Aedo, a company specialized in developing devices for people with visual impairments. The result of this collaboration is the smart window, which includes a camera capable of photographing different elements of the environment we travel through, turning them into high-contrast monochrome images, which are then reproduced on the glass using special LEDs.

Once the photo is taken, the passenger only has to place their finger on the window, and different shades of grey will vibrate at intensities of 225, which allows them to build the landscape in their mind through the impulses. In this way, the oval-badged firm will manage to let all users of this system enjoy the journey and, at the same time, have no obstacle to perceiving the landscape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDfqPMmNmmk&feature=youtu.be

“We seek to improve people’s lives, 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 it could turn everyday journeys into something truly memorable,” says Marco Alù Saffi, of Ford Italy.

This smart window prototype will serve as the basis for many projects, which will focus on improving the experience of disabled users on board a vehicle by Ford. These innovations will very soon arrive in their production version with the aim of making them available to any customer of the brand.