The
technology utilises artificial intelligence to analyse the external sound
patterns and employs two separate driving assist systems that work together
simultaneously – the Audio-Visual Conversion (AVC) and Audio-Tactile Conversion
(ATC), to help hearing-impaired drivers who have an acute, highly developed
sense of touch and attuned visual capabilities.
The
AVC allows for safer driving, by enabling communication with the external
environment through visual portrayals of sound patterns, such as warning sounds
of emergency vehicles, as pictograms on the head-up display (HUD). The steering
wheel is also equipped with multi-colored LEDs which indicate navigational
information while driving.
The
ATC transfers the sound data into vibrations through the steering wheel,
notifying the driver of information about external environments such as
distance from obstacles.
HMG, demonstrating the technology, revealed a
campaign video called ‘Quiet Taxi’ that aspires to give hope to drivers with
impaired hearing. Starting with an open invitation, stories were sent in by
people from all over the country, and HMG chose Daeho Lee, as Seoul’s first
ever, designated hearing-impaired taxi driver to showcase the driving assist
technology.
Lee, a hearing-impaired father of two children
who recently began a new career as a taxi driver, had difficulties with hearing
and had to rely mainly on his sight. Problems arose with other drivers on the
road when he could not hear the horns or sirens of surrounding vehicles. Additionally,
he needed to constantly rely on his vision, which caused fatigue at a rate many
times that of the average driver.