Out of car, into home

Linda Mcavoy

The headlines are dire, spouting nothing but doom and gloom for car manufacturers and automotive suppliers.

Yet the auto sector is an innovative industry; surely it won't be long before these businesses expand their horizons, tapping into other markets, finding other applications for all that technology.

Take, for example, a gadget called the Rumbler (or Howler, depending on the manufacturer). Recently installed on police cars and ambulances in the U.S., this device is a secondary siren system that emits short bursts of low frequency tones that penetrate and shake solid materials, allowing drivers and pedestrians to actually feel the sound waves.

It's intended to shake inattentive drivers who, despite the flashing lights and blaring sirens, fail to notice there's an emergency vehicle trying to get by.

A blast from the Rumbler not only lets drivers feel the reverberations, it may also make their mirrors and the coffee in their cupholders vibrate.

While touted for use in heavy traffic, intersections and other high ambient noise conditions, I foresee another application – one a little closer to home.

Think about it, what bigger "high ambient noise condition" is there than the average teenager's bedroom?

Ever tried to get the attention of a music-blaring, computer-game-playing, instant-messaging teen who's ensconced in his or her lair?

Around our house it goes something like this:

Step One: Beckon. Okay, bellow, repeatedly, for child. No response.

Step Two: Summon with an ear-splitting whistle. N.R.

Step Three: Stomp up stairs, barge into kid's room and yell, "For crying out loud, I've called you 17 times! Dinner's ready!"

At which point, the kid finishes typing/texting/killing cyberzombies, removes his headphones, gives you a blank look and says, "What? Were you calling me?"

Well, thanks to the home edition of the Rumbler, all bellowing and bickering could be eliminated with one pulsating burst. The kid will get the message the instant his laptop – indeed, his entire room – vibrates.

Countless other car-related products are also ripe for home application. After all, what couch wouldn't benefit from the installation of personally programmable power-seat adjusters? And surely multi-zone climate control could do for home thermostat wars what they've done for driver/passenger comfort.

Child care would undoubtedly improve with the installation of blind-spot detection and rear-view cameras, just as home renovation costs would be minimized with scratch-correcting paint.

Even those nasty territorial altercations between siblings (or bed-hogging spouses) could be eliminated with the use of personal lane departure warning devices.

The list of aftermarket automotive accessories adaptable for home use is just as long.

Take, for example, the new sticky dart GPS tracker system being tested on American police cars. This device uses a carbon dioxide launcher to surreptitiously fire a dart onto a fleeing vehicle, then transmits movements and location co-ordinates via the Internet.

Granted, this darting system was designed to eliminate high-speed chases, but again, I can't help thinking crafty parents, and suspicious spouses, will recognize an application for this gizmo that may or may not involve automobiles.

Linda McAvoy can be reached at lmcavoy@mcavoy.com.

More videos from Wheels.ca and our partners