Driving with Touch-based Navigation (IMAGE) University of Utah Caption Nate Medeiros-Ward, a University of Utah psychology doctoral student, operates a driving simulator with a steering wheel equipped with two touch devices that pull the skin on his index fingertips left or right (counterclockwise or clockwise) to tell him which way to turn. A new University of Utah study found that navigation information can be conveyed to a driver through the fingertips as accurately as through audio instructions from a navigation system. And when drivers are distracted by talking on a cell phone, the fingertip instructions are followed more accurately than audio instructions. The touch-based devices could help improve safety for motorists and hearing-impaired drivers, and also lead to navigational canes that provide navigation information to blind pedestrians. Credit Justin Lukas, University of Utah. Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.