Effects of Various Music on Angry Automobile Drivers

The effects of different styles of music on angry automobile drivers were analyzed, to some extent, in this study: “The Effects of Various Music on Angry Drivers’ Subjective, Behavioral, and Physiological States,” Maryam FakhrHosseini and Myounghoon Jeon, Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications Adjunct, pp. 191-196. ACM, 2016. […]

Volkswagen’s Ig Nobel Prize-winning research also used cartoon-watching monkeys

The research that won an Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize for Volkswagen also involved monkeys watching cartoons while they inhaled automobile fumes — a fact that was not publicly known at the time the prize was awarded. Nor was it known to the Ig Nobel Board of Governors. The monkeys/cartoons news was reported today by Jack […]

Robotic butt-in-seat testing

Ford produced this deadpan, precisely accented video narrated by engineer Svenja Fröhlich, about testing the repeated interaction of car seats and human butts. The official Ford announcement says: “A robot has been created to move like a human behind – and perfectly simulate how drivers and passengers get in and out of their car seats. Engineers used […]

Concerns about watching TV while driving: then and now

NOW: Stuff reports: The [UK] Department for Transport has acted to ban drivers from using Google Glass – even before Google’s smart eyewear launches to the general public. Stuff has learned that the government department is concerned about the potential for distraction that could result from using Google Glass while driving, and has taken pre-emptive action ahead […]

Safety seat warning: No backwards child drivers.

Investigator Jonathan Ryder sent us this image which, he reports, “came with an Evenflo Tribute 5 Child Restraint System.” The diagram warns owners “DO NOT place rear-facing child seat on front seat  with air bag“. The drawing makes a further injunction against placing the device in the driver’s seat. Ryder commends the manufacturers for this— he […]