A visually impaired woman has been given the keys to a promising future – thanks to a robot driver.
Pearl Outlaw, 36, suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a congenital disease that caused her to begin to drastically lose her vision when she was just 28 years old.
4
4
Vision loss was rapid and permanent.
The Portland, Oregon, native can now only see shades of light and dark, relying on her mother Ruth and other friends and family to help her with daily life.
However, thanks to Hyundai’s visionary IONIQ 5 driverless car, Pearl got a taste of independence that many of her fellow sufferers craved.
The next-generation robotaxi, like models launched this year by Tesla chief Elon Musk, is powered by supercharged artificial intelligence that is so effective it passed a test drive in Las Vegas earlier this year.
TEST
The South Korean industrial giant released a short film of the robotaxi passing its driving test administered by an official driving examiner — becoming the first autonomous car to pass the DMV’s driving test in the process.
Pearl’s mother, Ruth, was worried that her daughter would put her life in the hands of a bot.
But both were impressed by the experience and now eagerly await the car’s public launch.
“If you ask someone in my position, we’ve been waiting for something like this for years,” she told The US Sun.
“I’d start walking everywhere tomorrow if I could.”
In 2018, Pearl attended school in Boston to prepare for life without sight, where she remained for 12 months but remained on the mailing list.
Earlier this year, she received an email asking if anyone with a disability wanted to be in a commercial – and the rest is history.
“I never thought I would be chosen,” she admitted. “But I’m glad I did it.”
Pearl certainly didn’t let her troubles dampen her adventurous spirit.
She spoke to The US Sun at a training camp in Massachusetts in preparation for a week-long trip to Peru to compete in the world rowing championships, which will see a boat made up of competitors with a range of disabilities navigating the ocean waves.
Pearl is determined to live as normal a life as possible, but having a car that could take her anywhere without having to rely on the good will of other people would be a monumental boost.
“It would be amazing to have a car like this to take me around,” she said.
“I would take a trip across the country. How amazing would that be?”
ON THE ROAD
In the film, produced by creative agency Jung von Matt and directed by Park Pictures’ Daniel Mercadante, the Hyundai IONIQ5 robotaxi effortlessly passes a regulatory driving test on the streets of Las Vegas with a Driving Examiner certified by the Department of Motor Vehicles. of Nevada.
Kandice Jones is certainly no pushover – over the years, she has failed nearly 84% of student drivers.
However, the robotaxi’s efficiency and driving ability left her shocked.
Its speed control, lane changes and maneuvers; the ability to accurately stop at a stop sign and turn left; and its reaction time to developing hazards was impressive.
Kandice was impressed – and handed out a flawless score.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 5 million people nationwide are unable to drive due to physical or mental problems.
However, the American Automobile Association states that 73% of Americans do not trust self-driving cars.
However, the impressive display during the test illustrated the robotaxi’s reliability and safety, potentially opening a new era of trust and empowerment that could transform millions of lives of people like Pearl.
“As a company that strives for freedom of mobility, we at Hyundai aim to demonstrate the safety and reliability of the IONIQ 5 robotaxi through this very campaign,” said Sungwon Jee, senior vice president and global marketing director at Hyundai.
“We will continue our efforts to raise awareness of our AI-based autonomous driving technology, which is expected to bring positive changes to the everyday lives of our customers.”
It’s unclear when Hyundai will launch the robotaxi for universal use, but it can’t come soon enough for adventure-seeking Pearl.
“It seems like years ago that Google announced it was developing a self-driving car,” she said.
“Being able to rent something like this when you’re traveling or just have your own car would be fantastic.”
4
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
