Automotive News Canada - August 2019 - v2 - 23

23

* AUGUST 2019

AVs on a path to overlook the disabled
With mobility for
all in mind, the auto
industry is warned
of a significant
disconnect between
autonomous
development and
the needs of people
with disabilities

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS CANADA
AUGUST SPOTLIGHT ON MOBILITY

By JOHN IRWIN
TORONTO BUREAU

CAR MAKERS AND
technology companies are partnering with advocacy groups
for people with disabilities
amid warnings from a recent
report that the elderly and disabled risk being kicked to the
curb as autonomous-vehicle
technology gets set to revolutionize mobility.
"Automobile manufacturing companies are underestimating the various needs of
people in terms of how they
actually engage in the reality of mobility," said Megan
Strickfaden, a design anthropologist at the University of
Alberta and co-author of the
2018 study with researchers at
the University of Cambridge.
"Mobility is not simply
about getting into a vehicle
and either punching something
into your phone or telling the
vehicle to go somewhere. It
involves many other things for
a range of different people."
Automakers and tech companies want to gain a strong
foothold in a market expected
to grow globally to US $556.67
billion by 2026 from US $54.23
billion in 2019, according to
Portland, Ore.-based Allied
Market Research.

Features to assist disabled passengers need to be baked
in to autonomous vehicles during the development phase
and not added after the fact, say advocates. This requires
automakers and technology companies to fully understand
the needs of the disabled. P H O TO : I S TO C K

"there is a window of opportunity to develop inclusive interfaces as early as possible to
avoid a potential automation
divide," the study said.
"With the goal of developing autonomous vehicles into
realizable technologies that
can be implemented in the
next 10 years, it is necessary to
improve design understanding
of inclusivity in autonomous
vehicles," the report said.
"The aim of inclusive design
is to move people from marginal positions where they are not
participating or cannot participate at all to places where they
can participate."

consumers can use their device
without looking at the screen.
"Riders will be able to turn
on audio cues that will help
keep them informed about
their journey."
In addition, Waymo's
self-driving vehicles use
Braille "to allow vision-impaired riders to easily find the
buttons to start the ride, pull
over the vehicle or call for
rider assistance."

COLLABORATION
At Volkswagen Group of
America, a team of engineers,

impaired, while another could
be designed for those who use
vehicles primarily to transport
their children to school or elsewhere.
"A person in a wheelchair is
very different than a blind person. And not only that, there
are 100 different ways that
someone could be blind and
have different needs."
Colin Dhillon, chief technical officer at the Automotive
Parts Manufacturers'
Association, said AV technology is still in its infancy.
"But we haven't started to
have those conversations yet to
the depth that we should have,
about disabilities," he said. "If
you're a person who's blind,
you're a passenger and you
always have been. But we're
about to embark on a period over the next few decades
where we're all going to be passengers. So why would you
limit who can be a passenger
and who can't?"
Strickfaden said designers should ensure interiors
have room for wheelchairs and
guide dogs and have advanced
voice technology and accurate
dropoff points and other features. - ANC
- With files from
Automotive News reporter
Larry P. Vellequette

JOE VERDE

'BUILT-IN' ACCESSIBILITY

"We need to make sure that
accessibility is built in and
not just some add-on, after-thefact thing as it is now," said
Terrance Green, who chairs
DISABLED POPULATION GROWING the Council of Canadians with
A 2018 Conference Board
Disabilities' transportation
of Canada report says there
committee.
are 2.9 million people living
"It's always a continuous
with a disability
battle trying to
that impairs their
have accessibility
mobility, vision
built in."
or hearing, repBut some comresenting 10 per
panies are workcent of the populaing with advotion. That number
cacy groups
will rise by 1.8 per
to ensure AVs
cent a year over
respond to the
the next 13 years,
needs of consumMegan Strickfaden
nearly double the of the University of
ers with disabilipace of the poputies. Waymo, the
Alberta, author of
lation as a whole. a study about the
autonomous-drivimpact of autonomous
Spending by this
ing subsidiary
group is set to rise vehicles on people
of Google parent
with disabilities,
to $316 billion in
Alphabet Inc.,
2030 from $165 bil- says automakers
has partnered
should de-emphasize
lion in 2017, repwith the U.S.universal design in
resenting 21 per
based Foundation
favour of "specialized
cent of the total
for Blind
consumer market, vehicle variants" to
Children and the
accommodate the
up from 14.
Foundation for
differing needs of
Proponents
Senior Living,
consumers.
have touted AVs
among other
as a way to reduce P H O TO S U P P L I E D B Y
organizations,
M E G A N S T R I C K FA D E N
congestion and
for Waymo's
help people who
"Let's Talk Selfcan't drive overcome obstaDriving" campaign.
cles to either public or private
According to the campaign's
transportation.
website, Waymo is designing
Fully autonomous vehicles
its mobile app to be used with
that require no human interac- accessibility services including
tion - Level 5 - are still years Android TalkBack, which proaway from being deployed, so,
vides spoken feedback so that

designers and researchers is
working on a project aimed at
making autonomous vehicles
accessible to wheelchairs.
"It's definitely going to take
collaboration between [automakers], advocacy groups,
wheelchair manufacturers and
securement providers to make
sure that whatever we develop is an effective and safe solution," said Shani Jayant, principal user-experience designer
at Innovation and Engineering
Center California.
"We are not just designing
and then asking people to validate our ideas," Jayant said
in a statement. "We're bringing people to the table to share
their voice and input from the
beginning."
VW Canada spokesman
Thomas Tetzlaff said the automaker does not have "a dollar
value assigned to this potential
market."
"I think it's a pretty noble
effort, and sincerely hope our
goals are altruistic on this
front."
Strickfaden recommended that automakers steer away
from universal design, instead
focusing on "specialized vehicle
variants" to accommodate different people and their needs.
For example, a vehicle's trim could be designed
for those who are visually

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Automotive News Canada - August 2019 - v2

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