An American company has released a computer game to help older drivers stay sharp, on the heels of a Canadian study that recommends we do more to reduce the toll for seniors on the road.
InSight was developed by Posit Science, a San Francisco company, based partly on technology developed by the University of Alabama. Published studies report that the program significantly reduces the risk of automobile accidents.
InSight features five different games that get progressively harder. The game is designed to improve a driver's "useful field of view," the ability to take in information with a single glance. Students spend dozens of hours playing.
"It helps you think faster, focus better and remember more," says Joe Hardy, who helped develop the software.
Royal Taylor, 70, has seen his driving skills sharpen since using InSight as part of an adult education class.
"I see things now that I, in the past, didn't see. Particularly when I 'm driving and just walking around."
Teri Barr, an adult education teacher, says that a person's brain often has to be recalibrated to match the physical effects of aging. She believes people benefit from InSight in a classroom setting rather then alone.
"Many of these brain programs are designed to get the most out of it when you are really at your threshold and you are really being pushed," she says. "And it's usually at that point often times, if you were doing this alone, and it gets really hard, some people have a tendency to quit."
