Max Pfeiffer gives the passers-by

A few weeks ago, we were talking to you about the incredible invention of Max Pfeiffer, this researcher from the University of Hannover (in Germany), behind the “cruise control for pedestrians”, an invention to guide a passerby using a cell phone and using muscle stimulation. We were fortunate to interview the researcher and learn a little more about his invention.

Can you start by telling us more about yourself?

I’m currently doing my PHD at Hannover University on human-computer interactions, and I'm trying to figure out how to give man a better understanding of his visual environment. The " cruise control Is only one of my projects and is at the start a very simple approach to change the direction of walking of the user and thus free his mind from the constraints that prevent him from enjoying his environment. The invention is simple: thanks to electrodes positioned on the legs, we create electrical stimulation of the muscles to contract the sartorius, muscle responsible for the rotation of the leg. My project was presented this year at CHI (Human Computer Interaction) in front of sector professionals and researchers in this field.

Explain to us the interest of such an invention?

Nowadays we have theused to walk with our cell phone in my hands and very often watching an application, including a navigation application. These applications claim all our attention : they require our analysis, our understanding in order to successfully transpose what we see on our laptop to our real environment, especially to find our way.

So what I tried to do with the cruise controlis to simplify the steps in this process, and to design a system that would guide us in our movements in a much more intuitive way. But also of release people who walk down the street looking only at their phones. Because you can't really see, enjoy, or genuinely care about your surroundings if you don't look at it. So we found it interesting to clear the eyes of the user and give them the opportunity to look around again while they are walking. It also helps to avoid misinterpretations, and to take the right direction directly.

Did you work alone on this project?

Some of this work was part of a group work, with other student researchers carrying out their PHD; so Tim dünte is co-author of this project and Michael Rohs is our Research Director. But this project was also carried out in partnership with two universities, that of Stuttgart and that of Munich; partnership through which we collaborated with Stefan Schneegass and Florian Alt. So the idea didn't just come from me, it came from all of us, because it evolved through our joint discussions, which were how to bring better urban navigation to passersby.

How did the idea come about?

(Embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-XpMmxLw08 (/ embed) 

The idea was born out of the habit of seeing all these people trying to walk and look at their phone at the same time on the street every day and finally being unable to properly do one of these two tasks – which demand all our be careful – and therefore who could neither be guided by their applications properly, nor avoid all obstacles on their routes. So we started to investigate, how we could "physically" make someone change direction, and on the muscles involved precisely in the process of walking, especially to turn, or change direction. Because very specific muscles are actually involved in changes of direction, but only a few are accessible with the electrodes.

Why did you call this invention “cruise control”?

We called it "cruise control" – which by the way is its final name – because, according to our approach, you can always control power or regain control or stop the signal produced by this system, at any time.

Is the user able to refuse the order given to him?

Yes completely. The user remains free of his final movements throughout the use of this system. If, for example, the device tells him to turn right, but he does not want it, the system will not force him to take this direction. Already because we only stimulate one of the muscles responsible for walking, then because it is a rather small muscle, and the other muscles involved in walking are much stronger and more important than this in this phenomenon. of rotation.

And it is not painful either, because we always use stimuli at a low level, and which remain in the comfort zone of the user. Besides, every time we had him tested, we went step by step, reassuring the testers at each stage of the Review and asking them systematically if he was feeling any pain.

Do you think, once your invention is completely completed, that it is possible to misuse it?No, precisely because we have chosen to stimulate a muscle so small that you can always regain control over it.

Is marketing already planned?

We are still in the research, prototyping stage, so the commercialization stage is still very far from us, as there is still research and improvements to be made at this stage. I think that'such technology, so that it is perfectly controlled and marketable, definitely requires another 10 to 15 years, before entering the market. And above all, that a lot of progress in terms of details and navigation needs to be made before that.

And beyond that, I am a researcher. The sales idea is not my end goal, my end goal is to help people, to find technologies for improve their daily lives. And show them how they can interact with their computers in new ways.

Have you presented your invention to CHI and received it?Very good ! The presentation of the system was ranked in the top 7 of the whole event, and we received an honorable mention for our presentation paper. So the feedback has been pretty good.

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