The development of self-driving technology in bicycles could add to the independence, fitness, and mobility of the blind.
Introduction
I have wanted to get my hands on my own electric e-bike for some time now in the hope it would improve my mobility around the area and provide added independence. Despite my most artful arguments and strategies, the current Mrs Marshall has firmly objected to this plan by raising her own well-crafted counterarguments that incorporate details such as my blindness, my inability to see even basic road obstacles, my certain death or injury, and a general lack of awareness of what is around me! Damm, that woman is good!
This is a pity as I can see myself on one of the electric tricycles currently out there in the marketplace, sailing through the Lincolnshire countryside and descending into Lincoln on an unaccompanied shopping spree. My Swedish business partner Lotta, an expert in the environmental impacts of transportation systems, has one (naturally!), and she raves about her tricycle, describing her weekend life hauling children and shopping behind her in a small trailer as she bikes around Stockholm.
I optimistically believe that the only obstacle I would face during my travels would be the frequent and abysmal West Lindsey District Council potholes, all bred for depth and width in some secret road-testing facility outside Gainsborough.
Plan B
So, my Plan B is an AI-aided tricycle that can guide and help drive its visually disabled cyclist to a pre-selected destination, such as the shops, cinema or, more likely, the pub! What can possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, an affordable street-ready model has yet to reach the marketplace.
What’s out there?
A quick web search identified that the idea is certainly under evaluation by various tech companies and university research groups around the globe, but the technology, whilst in our grasp, hasn’t resulted in a commercially available tricycle yet.
I have seen some exciting design concepts online, particularly the self-driving concept trike christened the ECHO.
It certainly is a masterpiece in minimalistic design, and I am not sure what replaces simple concepts such as steering handles. It certainly has that robocop feel about it and the possibility of a future ‘Grinning Blindman clocked by Police doing 160mph’ headline in the local paper. Further reading confirms that it is proposed as an autonomous ‘task’ vehicle for fetching your shopping rather than as a return to childhood toy for a sixty-year-old who really should know better.
Other e-bike designs are more practical but lack the guiding help I seek. This recumbent model looks great, has a 400-mile range and looks perfect for helping a blind driver get stuck under the front axle of a truck. No, we definitely need the guiding component brought through via new technological applications.
Reapplying drone technology.
I now read that many organisations and universities are considering whether drone technology could be incorporated further into urban vehicles and bi/tricycles, particularly its directional guidance systems.
As a blind person, I am keen on the petals, a comfy seat, and some sort of handlebar concept to hang onto, and I am more than happy to receive assistance with the directions, steering, and brake concepts!
In reapplying this existing technology and integrating it into an e-tricycle, my ideal would be to set or vocalise my stated destination – ideally through my phone or tablet, which I then re-attach to the e-tricycle and off I pedal.
A few challenges to be overcome.
The bike then takes care of all the minor details such as directions, oncoming traffic on narrow country roads, open trenches left by telecommunication companies, flood waters, and horse riders! Once we reach the city limits, then, it still remains focussed on providing me with directions but also takes into account inconveniences such as traffic bollards, manhole covers, parked cars, overtaking white vans, red stop traffic lights and, of course, any other road crossing pedestrians or even other blind tricyclists demanding the right of way. Now I think about it, there is a fair bit of work and a few problems to be overcome to ensure safety in those scenarios!
There will also be inevitable tensions between the AI guidance and where I sometimes want to steer. Will I be allowed to make individual decisions such as these, or will I have to trust the bike but then implement some form of override if I want to navigate off its chosen path?
How long must I wait?
Because of the added safety, steering and navigation demands on the technology and the time spent scaling such innovations up from laboratory to street use, I will be waiting for my self-navigating tricycle for several more years.
In the meantime, I can see myself implementing Plan C, in which I approach the current Mrs Marshall with the suggestion of buying a new e-tricycle but adding in cutting-edge safety features such as a fluorescent tabard, a children’s classic metal bike bell and a cow catcher on the front wheel. What could possibly then go wrong?
The Future
When travelling, I can certainly see a role for fleets of small autonomous vehicles or bikes helping visually disabled visitors get from the travel assistance desk to the departure gate (with the e-bike returning itself under its own GPS to the desk) or accessing tourist sites independently without guides.
‘Bonjour Paris, take me to the Mona Lisa, s’il vous plait!’
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