Tuesday, October 20, 2015


Road Rage Detector to Hit Market




CNBC.com



Call it a car seat that helps reduce road rage.
Automotive parts manufacturer Faurecia is developing an Active Wellness seat to monitor emotions of drivers. The seat detects stress and fatigue via built in seat sensors, and then offers a customized treatment to the driver.
"If you're stressed out, your heart rate increases and your respiration increases," Faurecia's Vice President of Innovation, Rob Huber, told CNBC's Closing Bell. "If you press 'stress detected,' it'll give you a soothing massage and a warming sensation that will calm you down."

Likewise, the seat works if the driver is fatigued. If the sensor detects a lower heart rate, the Active Wellness seat will offer a lower back massage and a cooling sensation to the driver to wake them up.
"This car is about connectivity and understanding more about the individual person," Huber told CNBC.
According to the privately operated website dmv.org, emotional driving — like being stressed or having road rage — can be just as dangerous as talking on a cellphone while driving. While this new technology does not prevent outside distractions, Huber says it looks out for the overall wellbeing of the driver.
Former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is skeptical there is demand for this type of technology in the automotive industry. Lutz told CNBC, "Sadly, my take on this is that it's the answer to a question that nobody asked."
While no partnerships have been announced, Huber claims there is interest from many automotive companies. As for cost of the smart seat, Huber says this technology will be a common solution in a premium vehicle initially, and then could migrate into a larger volume segment. Huber anticipates this product to be on the road in 2018 or 2019.

What do this and other headlines 
about the trend towards 
increasing automation and robotization 
suggest to you? 
What does it imply? 
What inferences do you draw?

24 comments:

  1. We need one of those for the internet superhighway!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We don't need anymore "automation. Instead, we have hard-nosed SOB's like me who refuse to tolerate nonsense, abuse of posting privileges, and sheer nastiness.

      I ruthlessly delete garbage ALL the TIME. I wish more bloggers did the same.

      Delete
    2. I would rather have "have hard-nosed SOB's" like you than all this horrid robotery and deplorable automation!

      Delete
  2. Why can't I just get a CHEAP simple vehicle that goes from point A to point B?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because "they" want to CONTROL you –– and everybody else.

      I predict that we will be Ruled by Robots very soon.

      Remember The Day the Earth Stood Still?

      When human beings abdicate their responsibilities, and habitually fail to control themselves, "Something" WILL come along to repair the Deficit.

      Delete
    2. Well they're too late. We're about to do away with roads and traffic jams (road rage) entirely! ;)

      Delete
    3. FT is right. It's the same reason we can't get a simple cell phone anymore. They gotta market you one of those damned "smart" phones ya gotta wipe the screen with your finger, scrolling, sticking, can't get the sonuvobitch unlocked, then the damned contraption dials 911 all on its own, people walking into lampposts and crashing into other cars looking at those damned little screens.

      Dear God in heaven! Why can't you sell me a simple flip-phone for crimeny's sake?

      Delete
    4. Haven't you heard if the JITTERBUG? Senior Citizens just love it, because it IS just a simple cellphone with BIG NUMBERS, a strong amplifier and a long-lasting battery.

      Of course they HAVE come out with a smart-phonish model, but you can TILL get the simple one.

      How long that will last is anybody's guess.

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What does this post have to do with the thread? Talk about changing the subject... you don't even know what the subject is.

      Delete
    2. Dear Pearl,

      I hope you feel better now that you've emptied your bowels all over my blog?

      The rest of us don't enjoy the stink, so next time you feel the urge to "unload," please use the nearest water closet. In case you've forgotten toilets were invented for a very good reason.

      Try abusing your posting privileges here again, and I promise your evil smelling excrement WILL be flushed away.

      Delete
  4. stomp, snort, and gruntOctober 20, 2015 at 9:43 AM

    For me I cannot understand the why a relaxing or invigorating massage while driving should be viewed as a problem. Particularly after a stressful or tiring day. Of course a massage by a capable massage therapist would be far superior IMO and I will continue to get them even when cars become equiped.

    Technology is not the problem, how one uses and or abuses its benefits is. As long as a person controls the technology they use and do not succumb to allowing the technology to control them (addiction that cuts off human interaction) there is no problem. So, FreeThinke is right, if one is incapable of retaining control over the technology that when used responsibly enhances their life they should probably avoid using it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It appears that the progressive socialist democrats at the New York Times took on Amazon and portrayed the firm as being unduly harsh on its workers. Whether or not this hit piece was a progressive attempt to encourage the unionization of Amazon or was simply one of their anti-capitalistic screeds in a time when Bernie Sanders is a credible challenge to Hillary Clinton is unknown.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am sick to death of this constant addition of gadgets in cars. Cars were never really my thing, I'm no mechanic, but I certainly owned a few over the years, and I understand the fundamental science of the whole thing. Through the 1980's and into the 90's I was always able to perform simple maintenance and fixes on my cars. They were most always older, used cars I bought with cash. New cars are not worth the money. Since the early 90's, care have just become needlessly complex machines, a complete waste of money, crammed so full of stupid gadgets, you can barely see the motor through the jungle of cables and wires and hoses and chips - and gadgets. It's ridiculous. When will consumers become pound smarter?

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I couldn't agree more, Jersey!

      Delete
    2. "New cars are not worth the money"

      Damn, Jersey! I agree with every word. How often does that happen?

      Pop the hood on some new cars, and there's some kind of plastic cover over the entire engine. You can't even get to anything.

      They don't want people working on their own cars. They want you to take it to the dealership.

      To be fair to the car industry. Most vehicles now will last over 100K if you follow the servicing schedule.

      I used to work on cars alot also, since I was a teen. In Germany, your car had to be inspected every year, so us GIs who drove clunkers were constantly trolling the junkyards looking for parts to keep the hooptie running and pass the annual inspection.

      Delete
  7. ""Sadly, my take on this is that it's the answer to a question that nobody asked."

    Explains a lot about GM, also explains why Ford, Japanese, and European manufacturers are the innovators these days.

    But I also agree with Jersey, you could climb into the engine compartment of my first car to work on it. There are two things that contribute to the over-packing Jersey points out. First aerodynamic styling to improve fuel efficiency reduced the size of the engine compartment. Second, the vast majority of what you look at when you open the hood and that fills your engine compartment is related to the emissions control system including the engine management system. So, Jersey... you joining us tree killers and longing for the return of the four-barrel carburetor and a mechanical distributor ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll tell ya' this, Finn, I got more mileage out of my carbureted '79 Corolla than any car I've had since.

      JMJ

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. The FBI fix is in for Hillary. She will not face prosecution, or even an embarrassment for her criminal mishandling of out nation's secrets.

      I've said all along that this FBI investigation was designed not to prosecute her, but to exonerate her and inoculate her.

      Hello, President Hillary Rodham Clinton

      Delete
  9. slip, slide, and diveOctober 21, 2015 at 4:14 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  10. From a technical standpoint, if one's car seat can detect incipient road rage, a
    standard ejection seat seems reasonable.

    ReplyDelete

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