Audi and MIT Have Created a Scale to Measure How Frustrated You Are While Driving

We're talking about jumping-out-of-a-plane levels of stress, here.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

We all know that people get stressed and frustrated when driving; it's the reason that cabbie threatened to "cut off your scrotum and make it into a yarmulke" while brandishing a rusty pick-axe at you. In order to study this behavior, Audi has joined forces with MIT in order to create the Road Frustration Index (RFI). What amazing equipment have these two technological powerhouses pulled out to accomplish this? An Xbox Kinect, a GPS, and some other cameras.

By measuring facial expression, skin conductance, body placement, and environmental data, one can be placed on the RFI, which was calibrated by performing the same measurements on test subjects engaged in other activities. What was found is that getting hit by another car is a stressful as jumping out of an airplane.

Will this information lead to a better driving experience? Maybe, but we tend to think that taking away Mr. Pick-Axe's license might be a better start.

Related: 25 Insane Road Rage GIFs
Related: The 25 Craziest Russian Driving Videos

[via Audi

Latest in Sports