Social sciences and self driving

WHY SOCIOLOGISTS AND PSYCHOLOGISTSD  NEED TO BE IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY

We are at the beginning of the new AI/auto/transportation  evolution/revolution.  The H

The plain fact is that we are incorporating  mosre new features in our technoogy faster than ever  before.  There is a human  interaction factor that most manufacturer’s  have  not  really been discussing.  The personal  relationship with have with our  technology.

Here is a matter of fact.  People with disabilities  who have relied on various forms of tech.  People in general assign human characteristcs to their  cars, apliances, and especially their cars. 

The previous post already highlighted some  problems with  the research  around self-driving….. However these have  revolved around safety not matters of identification with  a person’s current  car.  For example, subjects are not asked  how well they like their  current  car  before they are asked how well they would like some future car.   Agood social scientist would never  dream of making such a research  mistake.  There has been very little analysis  done on the disatisfaction or  lack of enthusiasm factors.  

In my particualr case,  I am a person with a disability who can’t wait for a redesign of our transportation system and perhaps  one in which I had the  opportunity to  direct the use of an automobile in an independent  or interdependent fashion.    We  haven’t asked “If you  had to chooose between having  no options and  Self-driving  options which would you choose?  I  haven’t  seen that survey.  A good sociologist  would have done this research and a good psycholgist would have  been studying the personality  characteristics  of early adopters and how to draw them into the marker for early renditions of autonomous vehicles.  

I was overjoyed today to see that Apple  was getting into the marketplace for this technology.  They have been through  this with the smart phone and have mstered the art of introducing  new expectations.  What we used to call a phone would barely be recognized  by most  children today.  

Now  let’s turn to a second group of people that would n benefits from social  sciences becoming  involved.  To date I have not seen studies that feature current car mechanics regarding their  willingness to recieve training on this new tech.  Car Makers and citites  hoping to modernize fast could  make great strides by  involving  the current “support”  team of the car  and making sure they  felt secure  about their future when new tech is rolled out.  I have  not heard  of a sngle  major  car maker making this  training available to  “Mom and Pop organizations.     We may need some  adjustment  counseling  for  people who lose their jobs to  “robots” and I haven’t seen this as a specialization to any great  extent anywhere.  

Then  finally  there is  really hasn’t been any studies done  that  are meant to  bridge the differences that will  happpen  when there  are a certain element of people  who are  in the  backlash group and tohers pressing for faster  advancements.  The problem with  this is hat it keeps  millions of people  with disabilities  from having access right now and who knows for how long?   Do I hate my local mechanic… no, but i hate the fact that no one is including  him or her  at the table and no one is inviting me to the table  in any great  numbers as we try to make this much needed  transformation.  For example have auto makers sent out  the data  stating that our current  transportation  system is costing  us 19 billion  dollars a year as taxpayers because  people  they are likely to know have to miss appointments?  The three mechanics  I have encountered  since i learned this factg were astounded and  nos have a far more positive  attitude toward  the future  of  new vehicle consfigurations.  

The bottom line  a good group of socilogists and psychologists  could use this industry as a training lab as we are likely to go through  similar transitions s  in healthcare and other industires.  Somebody needs to be learning the lessons (including the mistakes)  s tat  as  arace humans don’t have to reinvent the wheel so to speak.

More  on who should be at the table in the next ost. 

Hey bro I’m THE RACE AND SELF-DRIVING CARS

In Going  back a couple entries  or so,  this  blog offerred  some questions about  predicting  dates of launch, who was  at the table in making decisions?—why sociologists should  be studying this?  Particularly for this blog—is this new  evolution  going to have the full benefit it might for people who  have been largely failed by the current  combinations of transportation systems and vehicles?

In the  entry  just prior to this  the topic of Ford unpredicting something and  expressing  uncertainty was  discussed at least at a primary  level.  Some of the statistics about self-driving and the public’s opinion were brought under some scrutiny.   Well that’s as  good as any  place to resume the discussion today.

A recent study of what cars do when they are  not driving around—-yes staying parked—was  done both in the United states and in a couple of european countries.  Well it may  surprise  most people that these cars we value  so much and pay so much attention to how they  drive spend  over 90% of their  lifetime not moving around  at all.  In Europe it was estimated that a car spends  92% of its  time parked and in the U.S.  cars spend about 95% of their time parked.  

So I guess the first question to be answered is  really how do we  use these valuable tools for moving people around to actually  move people around?  This has nothing do with who is driving, whether  or not  these cars burn  gas or  battery power, it has to do with how do we get  people who are  stuck in their homes and can’t  get to work or the doctor  into some  vehicles  that  are just sitting around rusting, rotting, and otherwise losing their  value? 

SO RIGHT  NOW WE HAVE SELF-NON-DRIVING CARS— how do we  bend the curve on that and have less waste in that  area?

Well there is no doubt we have tried some forms of mass transit such as  subways, light rail, busses, paratransit  etc.  a few  states in a few places  have adopted “car pooling”  lanes and a few employers have  provided  vans that pick up workers  in nearby  localities so that these workers don’t  bring their  own car and park it  in the employers property space.  However, have we ever really studied the actual  transportation (moving around) and vehicle  needs of communities ?  Wouldn’t it be a good time to do this as we  are about to bring a different  combination of  transportation online?   Nay sayers  of self0driving  cars  have made it clear that they believe these vehicles will roam the streets during the day leading to more congestion.  This type of thinking is  logical except for the fact that maybe these vehicles  could be taking children back and forth from day care  or elderly people  out to socialize or to  do a little shopping instead of  what happens now.  Maybe  employers could stagger  work shift  start times  so that  their workforce  shows up  in six shifts a day  instead of 3.  Maybe  a city could  develop a reasonable rate truck rental system so that  people who  now use their  truck  for hauling things about  once every five trips  could  use a communal  truck?  

Maybe big box stores and  big retailers  like Walmart could use the coming  self-drivers  to deliver  prescriptions  to the nursing  home or the homes of patients recently home from the hospital or who could no longer drive a traditional  vehicle.    But if we want to just have cars sitting around doing  nothing for the vast majority  of their life span so be it.  In so many ways this  is a hidden  case of  the “grandma’s  fany china syndrome.—you know we get them out for  Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and Maybe  an anniversary or something otherwise  it’s great value  paper plates.  

Okay let’s move on to  another question and then  taht’s about enough  for today….

What  other questions are being addressed…at what tables… and who is in  and not in the room?  and should we have some social scientists  studying this? 

Well the next entry is really going  to dive into these questions ankle deep but head first.  For now Ihere are some things to think abut.  Are the traditional players (car makers, city planners,  state DOT  officials, City Planners, and  elected officials  the  only people who should be at the table….??? Aren’t these the people who  have brought  us here?  What’s the definition of insanity?   Doing  the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.  Let’s think  about  this and then think  about who else should be at the table.  More tomorrow.   

Lies more lies and headlines In

LIES, MORE LIES & SELF-DRIVING CARS

When I was a kid….a tablet was something  Moses  had carried down from the  holy  mountain  to reveal the “new laws.”   In the  first dictionary I ever owned the definition for  computer was —noun—one who  computes.  

Yet today these words  carry with them  altogether  different  meanings and  my guess  is that if  I asked  a majority of  my children’s  generation to  provide a definition of these things they would not  even  come close to the cognitive  image I had earlier in life.

The  other  part of what I  would urge  us all to think about….. do  you remember for first cell/mobile phone?  Could  you shoot a movie with it?  Could you deposit a check into your bank account with it?  Could  you send a photo across the room with it?  I doubt  it.

So question one:   Why  are we so fixed on setting  a date when  self-driving  will be a thing, a real thing?  Have we even  really defined  what that means?  We have levels of  “autonomy”  set out so that  a reasonable conversation  can begin and that is a large step in the right  direction.  

Day after day  I read surveys  about how many people  do not  want self-driving  cars and wonder if  they have experienced any?—do they  know about the levels of autonomy?—or are they thinking  of a robot like the one in Lost in Space driving their  car around?  Do researchers  ask  if people like their current car as a part of the survey?  Or even if the person owns a car… I think these surveys  are sort of like asking  if you like  sandwiches?  Well some I do..some I don’t.  If you say do you like  sandwiches or pizza—then I am more likely to say  pizza, however, if you  asked  do you like veggie  pizza or a ham sands which  I’m saying ham sandwich  every  time.  

I’m not yelling at the researchers so much as the headliners… the  people who push the headline.  

Ok…I think you understand my point about  surveys regarding  self-driving.  Maybe there are  21% of the population who would still prefer  outdoor toilets…when is the last time we have asked?

Now let’s talk about  progress.  Some companies (in the most recent  round—Ford)  has  come out and said their  “self-driving”  cars will probably  not be ready as soon as they once thought.  Well  which of the following questions did this raise for you?

1. Was Ford  lying to us when they make their first predictions?
2. Has there been  some really  negative test results about their product?
3. did  Ford already  lose the battle on this and is no3 slowing down?
4. Well  my question would be did ford  finally decide to make access a bigger feature  so that people with disabilities  could use these  vehicles?  If that is true why aren’t  other companies  doing the same

What “progress” in other fields will  create  variations in the evolutionary  timeline of self-driving?  Will  printable circuits  on clothes change  the safety equations?  Will park and charge lot development  change the public’s acceptance?   Will making  these cars more accessible  to a person  with a disability encourage a very smart  young woman  to attend college and then engineer  the voice recognition  receptor  capable of  hearing the tone of someone yelling stop  at a sufficient  volume to stop the car from hitting  your  little boy who chases a ball into the street?  All this is possible and  given the speed at which technology  crosses the stream so to speak predictions to leaps forward, sideways, and even  at times  backwards  are all fairly likely.  

The best suggestion I have on this is  to stop predicting  the evolution of this technology and start working hard on the inclusion of variations so that work can begin on the expansion of capabilities.  Build  these  things like Lego so the parts  can be upgraded and modified….and keep including  a wide range of stakeholders—-you know  like anybody who needs to get anywhere, at any time.

Also take a look at the history of automobiles or televisions, or computers, or  types of shoes and realize evolution always includes  happy accidents and  unpredicted  failures.  

When someone announces a change in a timeline treat it like a scientist  needs a potty break not a massive  social commentary.  

I have a whole week scheduled  tp discuss  matters like this so enough  for today…

Do these self driving cars really know where they’re going?

Do these self-Driving Cars  Really  Know where they are going?  —some things are hard to  predict-especially  the future?

Recent  news would indicate that  Yogi Beara  (famous for some of baseball’s funniest  quotes)  is absolutely  correct when it comes to the current state of self-driving and autonomous  vehicles and  combinations of public and private transportation (mobility)  options.

The next  three posts offer insights about  the question posed by the title.  Some  of the ground in these posts has been covered in this blog before…but there’s a need to slow down and take a closer  look.  

Basically the next  three posts  will cover  the topics  below.

Why are time frames so elusive on this  matter?

Who should we  believe and why and when?

Who  isn't  at the leadership table and why?

Why sociologists  should study this….?

…and as a wrap up for this week’s  writings  we will explore perhaps  the most  important  question.  Who is in charge —the man behind the curtain (orwoman)…???

Since It’s  Monday we will just  start out with a frequently copied conceptual  graphic.  

Have a successful day and make some progress.

Hey I’m

 

You can get educated

https://pavecampaign.org/news-events/ So I spent a considerable amount of time on social media and pounding those who don’t seem to want to get educated or have people with disabilities involved pave has done a good job and is worth following go take a look at their social media etc. they have some cool events planned and have already had some cool events 

Being invisible sometimes good sometimes not

 OK I’ve been wicked sick for about a week with a nasty late winter early spring called the worst kind in my opinion  
 Why? Because it makes me crabby and I’m already crabby enough because well I haven’t been riding I’ve been had plenty of time to read and I’ve read a lot of exciting news about the world of self driving vehicles and money being invested etc. etc. etc. unfortunately when I haven’t read is about how people with disabilities are being included in the process and I haven’t read questions from any place important about why this is   #ABCNews #CBSNews #CNN #MSNBC #TheRealDonaldTrumpNo oneIsAskingQuestionsAboutHowTheseVehiclesAreGoingToBeAbleToMakeTheSocialChangeThatCouldBePossibleIfTheyWereAffordableAndAccessibleToPeopleWithDisabilitiesAndTheirFamilies    The alliance for automobile manufacturers have or has set up a three meetings series in Washington DC over the summer and into the early fall for people with disabilities the elderly and children     However I see no commitment to attend national conferences such as the national Council on independent living for the association for programs for world independent living by these folks and   These are venues where real progress could be made    They continue to see articles on some of the easy things like vehicle safety and weather related issues these are legal questions that will be addressed because these vehicles will be owned by someone they will be operated by someone’s system and someone will be responsible the weather well so far no one can control the weather and can your little four-cylinder Toyota get through the wind balloon Lake affect snow in Buffalo not always I’m sure


 I’m not sure where all the disability advocates are either to be quite frank and that concerns me    Are we going to wait till the ship is been built and then see if we can somehow climb aboard?    We need to be asking why we aren’t in the design rooms while we’re not in the testing labs and maybe when we’re not in the board rooms?    This opportunity is like when the automobile replace the horse as the major source of transportation in our country it’s not going to happen all at once but it is going to be a revolution that lasts a century or maybe two centuries or maybe till we can transport folks like on Star Trek now is the time to act now is the time to start asking reporters why they are asking questions if you’re not going to ask questions then they should be asking questions about the social responsibility of the auto makers

  My auto dictate on the phone is not working so slick these days but I am not making excuses I have contacted my Find Friends app and also find out if there are things that can be done I will get an answer from them who will you get answers from? It’s time to go it’s time to question things and it’s time for answers more tomorrow Hey

What about accessibility standards?

OKAY HERE WE GO…OR HERE WE SIT

Ford, Toyota, and GM announce joint effort to develop safety standards for Self-driving and Autonomous  Vehicles.

Why?

<Sarcasm alert>  They really  really care about your safety>.

Well they do care about  your safety.  Without  you  they can’t sell their cars.  They are starting  to understand  that people are afraid of these self -driving machines, not because they  don’t believe  the facts that sometimes surface regarding  safety,  but because  people believe in themselves as drivers and as people in charge of their own lives.  Some folks saw their first car as the ultimate symbol of freedom and of the world believing that they  were really growing  up.  How does one  give-up that  symbol?  Car makers have sold their  products as symbols of status, coolness, sexiness, and just about  every other  positive  human  characteristic in the book….. Only a few  car makers,  probably  only one —Bolbo— has ever sold itself  on safety.  

None have sold themselves on accessibility—What would it mean if an commercial came on and said…. “look at who can drive your new Ford Freedom Machine? and then a wheelchair  user, a person using a white cane, two kids and a dog  jump in?  Well folks the technology  exists that this could happen tomorrow in most places and under most weather conditions. 

People cry for safety standards because they think  they are better drivers than a machine or they don’t think  that driving is a task machines  can do safely.  Some  cry out for standards  because  they fear change.  

So here is a challenge to all my  fellow folks who live the disability experience.  If the rest of the world  is going to use safety  standards to start developing the trust needed to sell these  new and incredibly  useful machines….then let’s use  safety too.  

What?

Let’s advocate  that if a Self-driving  car is not safe enough for us to operate under normal conditions or under specific conditions then it is  not yet roadworthy  because not everyone can safely use it.   

Okay you may think… if we can  get a person with a chair in the vehicle that should be enough.  You may argue that a blind  person can ride in just about  any car on the the road today.  Well good argument—-except—-Would you support  appliances that people  could  no longer use after the age of 21?   Would you  pass a law that  children over the age of 12  could no longer play  on the swings?   Would  you kick all left handed  people out of  restaurants because sometimes  when they  sit by a right-handed person  accidents happen?  

You don’t have to  demand that safety standards include access —-but it’s time to start demanding access for all or pretty soon we’ll have another set of transportation devices  that  exclude too many people when we could have done better.   These cars are already hitting  the showroom  floors and the chances to fight for access get slimmer every day.  

IT  is simply  time to start getting out there and making  our voices  heard.  The basic design  of cars  and their usability is at stake.  We have to wake  up ourselves…our  neighbors… the car makers… and the lawmakers… 

Maybe we can start by requiring  car dealers to display alarge sign—-let’s say at least  eight foot square— saying “NO ACCESSIBLE  VEHICLES SOLD HERE”     Perhaps  on every advertisement  the car company should have to add and read a disclaimer saying these vehicles  do not allow some of your family members to  get in, ride, or drive.  

That would be a start.

Okay enough …. please share this post and  encourage everyone to  share it  NOW.