John
10-27-2009, 06:54 PM
Researchers in Germany have come up with an iPhone app that allows motorists to drive a car using their mobile phone.
The iDriver app converts the iPhone into a the real-life equivalent of a video game controller, capable of directing a two ton minivan, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The app has separate buttons for accelerate and brake, along with a steering wheel that exploits the iPhone's motion-sensitive capabilities.
Its instructions are sent to the specially-rigged car over Wi-Fi, with the "driver" able to navigate from a distance with the help of live video stream from a camera on the roof.
The app, which is not commercially available, is the brainchild of researchers from the artificial intelligence team at the Free University of Berlin.
In test drives on a runway at the city's Tempelhof Airport, the Spirit of Berlin car was filmed doing tight turns controlled by an iPhone-wielding researcher standing several feet away.
The iDriver app was created by the Appirion firm, which specialises in software for mobile phones.
The iDriver app converts the iPhone into a the real-life equivalent of a video game controller, capable of directing a two ton minivan, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The app has separate buttons for accelerate and brake, along with a steering wheel that exploits the iPhone's motion-sensitive capabilities.
Its instructions are sent to the specially-rigged car over Wi-Fi, with the "driver" able to navigate from a distance with the help of live video stream from a camera on the roof.
The app, which is not commercially available, is the brainchild of researchers from the artificial intelligence team at the Free University of Berlin.
In test drives on a runway at the city's Tempelhof Airport, the Spirit of Berlin car was filmed doing tight turns controlled by an iPhone-wielding researcher standing several feet away.
The iDriver app was created by the Appirion firm, which specialises in software for mobile phones.