3 ms·

True, but lots of animals with much smaller visual cortexes also manage to avoid running into things.

close04 8y ago
And sure enough their brains are more advanced and capable than our current computers, especially the ones that easily fit in a car. Even human vision (for the purpose of driving) is more advanced than cameras you might see in a car. And you're oversimplifying a little, it goes far beyond just avoiding obstacles. You need to be able to anticipate, learn and adapt to completely new situations, understand consequences and things that aren't strictly related to what happens on the road. That's something even most mammals fail to do. Our computers are not there and they won't be for some time.
Judgmentality 8y ago
This is a good point, but it ignores the often forgotten other half of the equation - human (or in this case animal) eyes. The human eye has orders of magnitude more dynamic range than the best DSLR cameras. This means in edge cases the camera will not see something important, such as a person, when a human will. And when I say the camera will not see it, I mean even a person looking at the camera will not see it, because the image is obscured or washed out or something similar. Garbage in garbage out. Don't skimp on your sensors.
- cookingrobot 8y ago
  You can get arbitrarily high dynamic range by tinting some pixels, or using a second camera at a different iso. As a silly example, imagine combining the image from a low light camera with one sitting behind a welding shield.
StrangeDoctor 8y ago
But not when moving at highway speeds with many other moving objects.
- DennisP 8y ago
  Small birds chase each other around, fly through thick forests or jungle, dodge predators including larger birds, and fly in large flocks. Based on the squabbles I see from my front porch, they seem to at least match human drivers on reaction time. I'm not convinced absolute speed is that important of a variable, when comparing to something much smaller dealing with closer distances, but some birds actually do reach highway speeds and beyond: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-fastest-birds-in-the-world.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-fastest-birds-in-the... But the fastest relative to size might be the hummingbird, which can fly 30mph backwards: https://www.ponderweasel.com/what-bird-can-fly-backwards/ https://www.ponderweasel.com/what-bird-can-fly-backwards/ The Anna's hummingbird has been clocked at up to 50mph in a dive, or 385 body lengths per second. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-hummingbird-thats-faster-than-a-fighter-jet https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-hummingbird-thats-faster...
  - klipklop 8y ago
    I have also seen birds fly into buildings, cars, planes and windows.
    - DennisP 8y ago
      Good point but in fairness to birds, if there were a giant sheet of glass blocking the road then humans would probably crash into it too. They also might find it hard to avoid a 747 flying across the road.

And sure enough their brains are more advanced and capable than our current computers, especially the ones that easily fit in a car. Even human vision (for the purpose of driving) is more advanced than cameras you might see in a car. And you're oversimplifying a little, it goes far beyond just avoiding obstacles. You need to be able to anticipate, learn and adapt to completely new situations, understand consequences and things that aren't strictly related to what happens on the road. That's something even most mammals fail to do. Our computers are not there and they won't be for some time.

Judgmentality 8y ago

This is a good point, but it ignores the often forgotten other half of the equation - human (or in this case animal) eyes. The human eye has orders of magnitude more dynamic range than the best DSLR cameras. This means in edge cases the camera will not see something important, such as a person, when a human will. And when I say the camera will not see it, I mean even a person looking at the camera will not see it, because the image is obscured or washed out or something similar. Garbage in garbage out. Don't skimp on your sensors.

cookingrobot 8y ago
You can get arbitrarily high dynamic range by tinting some pixels, or using a second camera at a different iso. As a silly example, imagine combining the image from a low light camera with one sitting behind a welding shield.

StrangeDoctor 8y ago

But not when moving at highway speeds with many other moving objects.

DennisP 8y ago
Small birds chase each other around, fly through thick forests or jungle, dodge predators including larger birds, and fly in large flocks. Based on the squabbles I see from my front porch, they seem to at least match human drivers on reaction time. I'm not convinced absolute speed is that important of a variable, when comparing to something much smaller dealing with closer distances, but some birds actually do reach highway speeds and beyond: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-fastest-birds-in-the-world.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-fastest-birds-in-the... But the fastest relative to size might be the hummingbird, which can fly 30mph backwards: https://www.ponderweasel.com/what-bird-can-fly-backwards/ https://www.ponderweasel.com/what-bird-can-fly-backwards/ The Anna's hummingbird has been clocked at up to 50mph in a dive, or 385 body lengths per second. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-hummingbird-thats-faster-than-a-fighter-jet https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-hummingbird-thats-faster...
- klipklop 8y ago
  I have also seen birds fly into buildings, cars, planes and windows.
  - DennisP 8y ago
    Good point but in fairness to birds, if there were a giant sheet of glass blocking the road then humans would probably crash into it too. They also might find it hard to avoid a 747 flying across the road.