I guess the local departments of motor vehicles aren’t doing the job in determining whether or not we are fit to drive, so here comes something new, software to determine how safe you are as a driver? Of course it will all be related to money and the hope is to eventually offer a discount for those who prove they are safe drivers with the software. Is this some type of clinical trial of sorts being it is “brain fitness” software?
We all know how health insurance cherry picks applicants and so it looks as if this trending is moving into other areas of insurance, and how long before they start connecting records from both sides, someone will no doubt find a reason to justify that in time I would guess to see if in fact what they have in our medical records in healthcare will determine if we might be healthy enough to drive and mined through the MIB, where all carriers exchange insurance information on us.
There’s a lot in the news today about the ffitness of our brains, and here’s a related article about a cap that can even stimulate your brain to give you “Rain Man” capabilities, put the cap on and get a nice “zap” to the left side of the brain? Makes one wonder how far off we are from a total brain transplant.
Back to the software test for driving, we might all be better off to wait until our cars drive themselves. DARPA competition coming up in a couple months to see how far this has come in a year. Last year the servers in the vehicles were doing pretty good, but Congress just cut their budgets. BD
Allstate Corp. wants to reduce the number of senior moments, and accidents, among drivers ages 50 and older.
The Northbrook-based home and auto insurer soon will begin testing a program in which it is asking 100,000 Pennsylvanians ages 50 to 75 to try computer-based video exercises in hopes of improving the way their brains process visual information.
Allstate's partner in the endeavor is San Francisco-based Posit Science Corp., which makes "brain fitness" software. The tool used in the Allstate test is called InSight, which is designed to improve a driver's visual alertness and mental abilities.
Allstate, which called the Posit program "potentially the next big breakthrough in automobile safety," said it expects its software exercises to reduce risky driving maneuvers by up to 40 percent and improve stopping distance by an average of 22 feet when traveling at 55 miles per hour.
"Effects of the training can last up to three years without a refresher," he said.
Insurance co. testing brain fitness software on older drivers
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/02/the-brain-stimulating-thinking-cap-low-fashion-high-iq/
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