A Vibrating Steering Wheel That Helps Lost Drivers

Vibrating Steering Wheel

Researchers at AT & T Labs and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a steering wheel that uses haptic or touch technology, the same one that makes your phone vibrate, to warn drivers when it’s time to turn around.

The steering wheel is still a prototype, is synchronized with a GPS equipped computer containing 20 small engines that send vibrations to the driver’s hands. The vibrations move in a  clockwise sense pattern to turn right and in the opposite clockwise direction to turn left, it can also increase in intensity as the driver approaches an intersection.

Automakers, increasingly focused on safety as they add all kinds of computerized functions to their vehicles, are certainly intrigued by the potential applications of this technology to consumers. (ARL)