E-Mail
LAWRENCE -- A research team based at the University of Kansas School of Engineering is one of 10 semifinalists in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inclusive Design Challenge, which seeks to make self-driving cars accessible to people with disabilities. The team won a $300,00 prize and will spend 18 months refining highly automated driving systems designed for people with cognitive disabilities.
The technology could promise a new era of independence and mobility for people living with mild cognitive impairment and mild-to-moderate dementia. According to the researchers, about 16 million people in the U.S. living with cognitive disabilities can't drive due to deficits in speed-of-processing, memory, attention, judgment and visuospatial skills.