DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY & INTRIGUE "Design is where science and art break even." — Robin Mathew

Transparentius

From: Art Lebedev via Engadget

Safety tends to take a prominent role in my blog, for several reasons. For one thing, I think safety in design sort of go hand-in-hand. You can't consider safety without considering such things as human factors, new technologies, or the economic feasibility of safety. However, I think there is just something beautiful about a unique take on safety. It is making something mundane, something we often take for granted, and making it into a desirable object or idea.

Now, if you'll let me bring it back to the concept at hand, we have Art Lebedev's Transparentius concept. It's a pretty simple concept: a semi truck, a camera, and some way to project a large image onto a flat surface. The camera would take live video of what was going on in front of the truck and communicate it to those in tow. The idea is that safety can be enhanced if you were able to see around the truck in front of you.

Cynics among us might argue that it could increase road rage or danger, for various reasons. And then there's the whole "what happens the 0.1% of the time when it doesn't work" argument, often associated with complex electronics. Oh, and then there's cost. Because the trucking industry isn't already about cutting corners and pinching pennies.

Still, the concept is unique and idea-inspiring, and therefore deserves a shout-out from Yours Truly. My two cents? There are far more efficient and cost-effective ways of executing this idea. For instance, instead of complex optics and projection, why not use basic radar instrumentation (similar to that on many passenger cars in accident avoidance systems) and a simpler black-and-white dot matrix on the rear of the truck to show hazards in relation to the truck in two dimensions. Taking it a step further, we could question who really needs this information, and I'd argue that the truck drivers would benefit a lot more from knowing if they're about to merge on top of Ford Expedition, or my Genesis Coupe.

/road rage

Stay Innnovative.

-Nick (www.nickselman.com)