NCSA NEWS

Allstate Highlights Dangers of Drunk Driving at Annual Hispanic Conference

released July 18, 2000

Allstate Insurance Company, a partner in the NCSA Private Sector Program (PSP), demonstrated the dangers of drinking and driving to Hispanic audiences at the recent National Council of La Raza (NCLR) conference held July 1-5 at the San Diego Convention Center.

NCLR is the largest constituency-based Hispanic organization in the country, and this was the second straight year that Allstate presented a virtual reality drunk driving demonstration at its annual conference. The exhibit, created by NCSA's Visualization and Virtual Reality division, allowed conference attendees to experience how it feels to drive drunk by using 3D visual imagery, stereoscopic glasses, and a specially designed steering wheel. Hank Kaczmarski of the U of I's Beckman Institute set up and operated the NCSA ImmersaDesk that ran the demonstration. The actual VR demo was based on an application called Performer Town, developed by SGI. Bill Sherman of NCSA's Visualization and VR division worked to customize the SGI software so that it simulated the effects of drunkeness and included traffic accidents and hazards.

"This demo simulates what can happen when you drive under the influence. We want people to know how devastating the consequences can be," said Fred Geinosky, a senior systems planning consultant in Allstate's Advanced Technology Research division who also works with the PSP. "It is an important outreach tool for us that really drives the message home. At NCLR we were able to bring this message to an important ethnic market."

About 20,000 people attend the annual NCLR conference, most of them Hispanic families and professionals. The exhibition at the conference, called Latino Expo USA, featured more than 200 exhibits from leading Fortune 500 companies, Hispanic-owned businesses, non-profit organizations, colleges and universities, and government agencies.

 

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