Clinical Report: Experiences of a Driver with Vision Impairment when Using a Tesla Car

Abstract

SIGNIFICANCE:Assisted and autonomous driving technologies may be a new paradigm shift for the driving rehabilitation field to enable less restricted driving, increase driving confidence, and maintain driving safety for drivers with vision impairment.PURPOSE: This study aimed to document how a driver with vision impairment uses assistance and automation systems in a Tesla car based on real-world experiences of using these technologies.METHODS: A 53-year-old man with Stargardt disease and 20/182 visual acuity self-explored the use of driver assistance technologies, which resulted in purchasing a Tesla Model Y with the full self-driving package in 2020. Two semistructured interviews were administered to quantify the driver's driving habits, adaptive strategies, use of the assisted and semiautonomous driving features in the Tesla car, and use of his bioptic telescope.RESULTS: When driving a Tesla car, the patient developed new driving strategies by codriving with different assisted and semiautonomous functions (e.g., Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, Autopilot) in different road environments. He shifted his main task from active driving to supervising the car automation systems in most driving situations. He also integrated a new use of his bioptic telescope to support him with monitoring the road environment before granting permission to the automated systems for car maneuver changes. The patient reported that driving confidence greatly increased and that he is able to drive more often and in situations that he would otherwise avoid because of difficulties related to his vision.CONCLUSIONS: This clinical report demonstrates how assisted and semiautonomous driving systems in a Tesla car were used to support daily driving by a driver with vision impairment. Codriving with these systems allows him to confidently drive more often and to avoid less situations than he used to.

Letter to the Editor: Update on Experiences of a Driver with Vision Impairment when Using a Tesla Car—Full Self-driving (Beta) in City Driving

“…In addition to the Tesla car user interface accessibility challenges we previously reported, the patient noted a few more situations where visual challenges with using the Tesla information interface could potentially cause safety concerns 1 . When the FSD Beta makes a left turn automatically, the car will first move to the right a bit to create more space for the left turn, and a left turn arrow will appear on the central information touchscreen.…”

“…In city driving, before having the FSD Beta system, the patient reported using his bioptic telescope mainly for monitoring traffic signs or light changes before allowing the car to start driving through an intersection (using Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control [Beta]) 1 . After using the FSD Beta on city streets, he estimated a 10% decrease in use of his bioptic telescope because the FSD system does not require his confirmation and permission to execute maneuvers.…”

“…In addition to the Tesla car user interface accessibility challenges we previously reported, the patient noted a few more situations where visual challenges with using the Tesla information interface could potentially cause safety concerns. 1 When the FSD Beta makes a left turn automatically, the car will first move to the right a bit to create more space for the left turn, and a left turn arrow will appear on the central information touchscreen. However, this rightward movement can be stressful for the patient because he cannot see the left turn arrow on the screen display and there is no auditory confirmation that the car is preparing to take a left turn.…”

“…In this letter, we provide an update to our clinical report titled “Experiences of a Driver with Vision Impairment when Using a Tesla Car.” 1 Our original report documented the experiences of a patient with Stargardt disease (20/182 binocular visual acuity) when using assisted and semiautonomous driving systems in a Tesla Model Y car to support his daily driving (Tesla Inc., Austin, TX). The report addressed the patient's driving habits, difficulties encountered while driving, adaptive strategies used, and his use of different driving features in the Tesla car between September 2020 and October 2021.…”

Geometric shape recognition based on FAST feature points and Hough transform

“…With the rapid development of computer vision and image processing, geometric shape recognition [1][2] has become a highly prominent research field. The goal of geometric shape recognition is to detect and identify specific geometric shapes such as circles, lines, rectangles, and more from complex image data.…”