Hyundai creates assistive technology for hearing  impaired drivers

The vehicle manufacturer has developed assistive technology for hearing impaired drivers, which converts acoustic signals into visual ones.

When driving, sounds can be important. You only have to think of the horn of another vehicle to realize the need we have to be attentive to certain noises. It is true that it is not essential. It is possible to drive with a hearing impairment.

However, at Hyundai they have set out to help drivers who have this difficulty. The company has developed a system to assist people with hearing impairments in driving. This is a technology that is already being tested and converts the acoustic signals around and inside the vehicle.

Hyundai’s system is based on two technologies: Audio Visual Conversion (ACV) and Audio Tactile Conversion (ATC). Each of them is dedicated to a type of acoustic signal. Hyundai has chosen to divide the sounds that reach the car into two: those from outside and inside.

The system has microphones installed both outside and inside the car. Sounds from outside, such as the horn of another vehicle, the engine of a motorcycle or the noise of a nearby construction site, are transformed into visual cues. Clues of what is happening outside appear on the dashboard. Not all sounds are represented, obviously. The system is capable of filtering out those that are most important for driving from those that are not.

There is only one type of acoustic signals that are produced inside the vehicle and are converted to visual signals. These are the indications of the navigation system. When it wants to indicate the turn to the right, the right part of the steering wheel lights up and vice versa. For all other interior sounds use vibration.

The other leg of the Hyundai system is the conversion of certain auditory stimuli that the car launches into vibration. A) Yes, the parking sensorwhich warns the driver when his vehicle is about to collide, will result in vibrations.

driver assistance

The motor world is currently undergoing a process of change. Autonomous cars are added to electric cars, whose development is set to revolutionize the industry. And, while all this happens, they arrive assistive technologies.

Recently you could see the Japanese panasonic present a system that detects drowsiness in drivers. Based on the recognition of certain patterns, such as blinking, yawning and other facial expressions, the driver is alerted.

It is one more example of how cars can assist drivers. The next step maybe Toyota already have it in hand. The manufacturer intends to test cars with artificial intelligence from 2020.

Image: Hyundai