Gesture recognition technology could improve automotive safety

Gesture recognition technology could improve automotive safety Not too long ago, when the instrument panel on a popular car consisted of just five or six instruments and five or six auxiliary (secondary) controls to operate the radio and heating system, the idea of making a hand gesture in a designated space to operate one of these controls would rightly have been seen as an unnecessary extravagance at best. Today, driver workload is already heavy in modern cars, with an ever-increasing number of vehicles on the road. This is compounded by a constant stream of new auxiliary devices such as navigation systems, active safety systems, nomadic devices (personal digital assistants and mobile telephones, for example), advanced telematics systems and infotainment systems. The potential for distraction can clearly be seen in the comparison between the JaguarMkV Saloon of 1948-51 (Fig.1) and the 2007 model year JaguarXJ (Fig.2).