Momentum Magazine has an interesting article by John Pucher in their Jan/Feb 2009 issue. Its worth a read by drivers of vehicles and cyclists alike. It led to an interesting lunchtime discussion, and some really interesting ideas pertaining to designing for compassion and empathy. In short, Pucher argues that by having compassion we make our commute safer and more enjoyable.

Recognizing that drivers of all types of vehicles may or may not be compassionate at any such time, I wonder if the design of vehicles could alter their behaviour. Recalling a presentation by a graphic designer I witnessed, he theorized that by increasing the size of the windows in a car you would make the driver feel more vulnerable. By making the driver feel increasingly vulnerable you heighten their defence mechanism. In turn that driver would reduce their speed, increase space between themselves and any other obstacle, and in general drive with a greater intention of self-preservation.

Observe the design of a bicycle, most bicycles consist of a triangular frame with two wheels (I’m lumping in recumbents, unicycles and tricycles). In many cases the driver of this vehicle is entirely exposed to their surroundings. Does this make them behave differently?

Tom Vanderbilt author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (a recommended read) posts about cabin noise and how it is touted as a feature. Instead should it be viewed as a detriment? Does it separate us from our environment thereby inhibiting our senses? Does a departure from our senses equate to reduced compassion?

In a long winded way this gets me to an idea. Would we be able to measure someone’s compassion or empathy through the environment presented to them in a vehicle. We may not be able to measure empathy, but we could look at contributing factors. Does an increase in tension, aggrivation, lead to reduced compassion? If so this is something we can measure quite easily.

In a previous experiment I was working on a data logger. If we set up a number of sensors on the steering wheel of a car, the handlebars of a bike, or the gloves of a pedestrian we could measure moisture content, pressure, and posture changes. With a little more advanced setup we could perform eye tracking. The idea being that by comparing results of any given moment against a baseline average we could determine spikes leading to tension.

I’m theorizing that compassion is a behaviour we’re usually conscious of. This behaviour would require that we provide the mental faculty to process. In a defensive scenario I wonder if conscious behaviour is low on the priority list. Thereby increased tension would be the inverse of compassion.

Going back to Pucher’s article, the first step in increasing compassion is being aware of it. If we could create a device that the driver of a vehicle could acknowledge, that might be a starting point to increasing that compassion. Although, I still think the original idea of making the windows bigger is much simpler and doesn’t require another piece of technology.