Is there a future for driverless trains?

Does the new Heathrow pod system herald a new advance in driver-less, personal transport?  Are we likely to see major changes in rail-based transport systems?  Previously on this blog we've talked about interesting ideas for high-speed rail.  This article on the BBC highlighted a number of technologies especially around high speed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9617577.stm

What we found interesting is the point made right at the bottom of the piece about the value in performance of removing the human driver. The claim (note, not sourced) is that driverless systems are 30% more efficient than those with an unreliable human at the controls.

Driverless trains are often a contentiousness issue.  Claims are usually made that it will decrease safety.  We're not aware of the evidence for this and note that these claims are frequently made by trade unions who do have another agenda.  It often seems that as passengers we want the security of knowing that there is a person in the cab - but it's likely that most people don't know the extent of automation on the Underground for example.  One can see the advantages with driverless systems - not least losing the problem of the train not running as the driver isn't available!  Perhaps one question is how to these automated trains deal with perturbed or emergency situations - how are the passengers kept informed? Who is there to help them?

Better hospital IT 'would save thousands of lives'

Interesting perspective on hospital performance and issues like patient safety based on providing better IT support.  We know human performance in environments like these is not always reliable so IT systems would appear to be a useful way of better supporting staff.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15340102

The big "if" is whether these kinds of systems can be adequately designed to meet the needs of the front line staff.  Will they be sufficiently usable in the field?

Military touchscreen applications

We keep looking for applications of multi-touch that go beyond spinning photos around and zooming in and out. We came across this article about a product aimed at military commanders wanting to get that command and control over the battlefield: http://engt.co/rag6MG

We don't know if this product is any good but it might tap into the potential of multi-touch to deliver intuitive interfaces that don't require extensive training or place great demand on the operator to remember how to use it in stressful situations.