K.I.T.T. The Fantasy VS The Technological Reality

Ever since I first dreamt of the idea of owning my very own K.I.T.T. replica I was always fascinated by the idea that one day everything that this car could do in the T.V. show Knight Rider would one day be possible. Sure there are many that would say; "You're a dreamer." especially way back in the early part of the 1980's. But I have always stuck by that belief that much of what we had seen in the Television serious would one day be a reality. Now here we are more than 30 years almost 40 years and the technology that has emerged over the last years has sure proven me right. We now have autonomous self driving cars, A.I. self controlled drones, A.I. robots.... the list is endless! The technology for all of those things I have just mentioned is improving at an alarming rate. Now I could spend a lot of time in this article eluding to and referencing numerous videos on You Tube alone that demonstrate the capabilities of many of these remarkable technologies, but that is not the main focus of this article, suffice it to say it REALLY is incredible and for those with a serous interest in such things I would urge you to look into some of those videos and articles on the very latest in A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and learning machines for it is truly amazing to see what was once just a few short years ago considered to be the wildest of Science Fiction become a steadfast reality practically overnight.


But as I say ever since I even dreamt of having my very own K.I.T.T. I was in love with the idea of making K.I.T.T. as real as possible. Even with our Knight O.S. project we are barely scratching the surface. We are not using Real A.I. in it's truest form, we are simply using voice recognition that uses if statements to check various conditions, and a variety of sensor inputs to "mimic" as best we can K.I.T.T. from the T.V. show. now this is due to a number of reasons. The number one reason being that we feel K.I.T.T. MUST have William Daniels voice, without that it's just NOT K.I.T.T., many true Knight Rider fans will agree I'm sure although there are a few that are not that particular about it either way. I would NOT be one of them. So this being the number one reason all of our K.I.T.T. responses are simply audio clips from the TV show, many have been spliced and altered to help increase K.I.T.T.'s vocabulary somewhat, but a limited method to be sure. Now today there is a fast technology merging whereby you can simply take a minute to two minute sample of a persons voice and then you are able to make that voice say anything you want, including emotional in fluctuations and the lot! So our current method of how we are doing responses fro our K.I.T.T. could well be obsolete in the very near future.

But what about the many other amazing things we say K.I.T.T. do in the Television series? What about K.I.T.T.'s indestructible outer shell??? Yes this too is something that is being developed by Military & Defence industries. There is currently a application called Linex that is quite commonly used to line truck beds, and although it has a rough, pebbled sort of surface does tend to exhibit many of the abilities associated with K.I.T.T.'s "Molecular Bonded Shell," It will not be long before this is developed further and we will soon have a finish that can be applied like a paint that will be a shiny gloss black.
K.I.T.T.'s ability to auto darken his windows is now a reality, in fact the technology exists where you can not only auto darken the windows but actually display images inside of the glass or even project moving video images into the glass as well. So that is a technology that has even surpassed what we hoped for.
As I had mentioned earlier about self controlled A.I. drones and autonomous self driving cars, it is in fact totally possible today to have a self controlled A.I. controlled car capable of handling itself on the road actually better than it's human driver. If you have any doubts about that again I would urge you to look into the very latest in self controlled drone technology alone. There is a very good video on You Tube that demonstrates how this very small self controlled drone is able to avoid being snatched out of the air by a human being, completely self controlled by it's on board A.I. system, this little drone has facial recognition and many, many more remarkable features and is currently being used by the military for the elimination of Terrorist threats and even crowd control. This sort of A.I. is just tip of the proverbial Iceberg my friends.

And although I find some uses of such technology potentially frightening I can't help but to think of all of the good than can come from such technologies as well. If you imagine a world where cars are incredibly safe & intelligent where they can not only be your personal transport but serve as a companion I'm many ways just like the relationship Michael had with K.I.T.T. in the T.V. show. Such things are completely possible. Not too long ago I had seen another video on You Tube where a company is actually making A.I. sex dolls / robots, these robots are capable of remembering what their owners tell them and can interact with them on an almost Human level. With such technologies there are going to be "Miss Uses" of it to be sure, but I try to focus on the positive even though I am fully aware of what I like to call; "The Borg" or "Terminator" scenarios. Ultimately that I believe comes down to a Human decision, because it is by choice that we can have either K.I.T.T. who was programmed to protect Human life or Terminator which saw all humans as a threat. ??

But I hope within the scope of this article I have opened your eyes to the many wondrous advances in current A.I. technology that have come about that can now very easily make our dream as K.I.T.T. replicators to having a real life and fully functioning replica of that truly amazing car from a simple 1980's television show that was and still is loved by so many. The next generation beyond mine will have so much more to add to this hobby should it still exist in that time ?? I certainly like to think so.

Hanging On By Faith Alone

I REALLY have to take a moment to thank so many of the people within the Knight Rider Community for their continued support of someone like me, someone who is a total "Greenie" with a project like this. And even though I realize that this is the progress of the fulfillment of a darned near life long dream for so many of you to have the faith and support that you have shown to a complete and total "new comer" is just so awesome and amazing!! I am and still consider myself to be "Green As Hell" with so many aspects associated with this project, there is not one thing I would consider myself an expert on, Not the Electronics, Not the Mechanical, Not the Bodywork, Not the Software Development & Coding... The ONLY thing I would consider myself to be a professional at is the Graphics and THAT is only because I have been doing that for so much of my life, but all else on this project has been Real Uncharted Territory for me. So I want to take this opportunity to thank so many of you wishing the Knight Rider Community for your continued support.

For Mick Dreeling who came along at the right moment when I was almost ready to give up on the software part being only able to get it so far and struggling and begging anyone to help me get it over the rough spots, to his wife who is so patient and understanding of our dream. For a guy who holds down both a full time job and a family life to be able to go out of his way and devote what little time he has to this project is just outstanding and I just don't have the words to thank him enough.

For Bo McDonald who has been in this hobby for so long, from the beginning from what I understand. For him to have such faith and show such support for again a "Greenie" such as myself is just so amazing.

For John Horton a New Yorker (And they Don't Trust Easy), to have a level of faith in myself and this project to actually donate expensive equipment is Beyond Stellar! Again I do not have the words to be able to thank John enough for his support and contributions.

There are SO many in the community who are waiting patiently for the completion and release of our Knight O.S. Software. To those of you just like us who are barely hanging on all I can say is THANK YOU SO MUCH! Keep the faith because more cool stuff is on the way and with each passing day we get closer and closer to achieving our dream. If it is one thing this project has taught me, it's that NO MATTER WHAT, NEVER give up, never quit, stay focused on the road ahead and the impossible CAN become real. Everyday with this project I have seen K.I.T.T. come more and more alive! So Hang On Tight My Friends.... we are getting closer and closer to the goal.

Our KITT also does not have "Multiple Personality Disorder" like some others I have seen out there lol ;)

KITT Can Reverse Audio V2

There are still some things to be worked out like the remaining false VR triggers for one. We need to source out a small but fairly powerful computer. So Far I like the Mac Mini as it seems to be small and has plenty of computing power. The Unity 3D people are working on the dual display issues and I'm hoping they will have that issue solved soon. A few other things that I believe are minor but its coming! 

K.I.T.T.s SURVEILLANCE MODE W.I.P.

You guys are gonna love this!!

While K.I.T.T. is in Surveillance mode he can determine if someone he is talking to is NOT Michael. And then ONLY accept conversational commands.... in other words if it is NOT Michael then he will ignore any commands that activate K.I.T.T.s functions like button presses, doors, scanner, trunk popper.... you name it.

Also Unless you are Michael ONLY certain "Factoids" are accessible like for instance ONLY Michael can ask for information about K.A.R.R. or Who is Michael Long, Or Who is Wilton Knight.... and so on.

"Factoids" like "Who is Billy the Kidd" can be accessed by anybody.
While in Surveillance mode someone could come up to K.I.T.T. and say:

"Where's Michael?"

And because it is Not Michael who has asked that, K.I.T.T. will respond with:

"Michael is indisposed at the moment."

IF it is Michael he will respond by saying something like:

"Are you kidding me Michael?"
Or
"You must be Joking."

K.I.T.T. while in Surveillance mode, when motion is detected he discreetly asks for a password on his monitor, during which there is a 10 second window to give the correct password.

A failed attempt within that 10 second window and K.I.T.T. goes into an "Intimidation" mode where he runs through a sequence of inquiries at a high threat level detection.... he is ONLY in a High threat level mode because a password was attempted within that 10 seconds.
During his inquiries he is waiting for responses that are either:

Favorable Responses
Or
Unfavourable Responses.

Depending on which one was given, he responds....
During this inquiry it is possible that someone simply passed by and accidentally triggered that mode so he does a final check to see if motion is either still being detected and he is hearing vocal commands he recognizes.

If there are none and no motion is detected he then just goes back into a "Loiter" mode.
Otherwise he figures there is still a threat and his inquiries are just being ignored to which he will respond by saying:

"Well... Don't say I didn't warn you."

From here he then goes into a "Defensive mode."
Our Knight O.S. Surveillance mode is getting really tricked out

Knight Rider Guy You Tube Channel Promo T-Shirt

I made a nice promo T-Shirt to help advertise my Knight Rider Guy You Tube channel a little more. I figure it'll be kinda nice to have a custom T-Shirt for when I do my development videos.

If anyone would like one of these attractive T-Shirts that feature Our Knight O.S. Logo, along with stylized text that reads:
"KNIGHT RIDER GUY"
And the You Tube address to my channel you can order them here from my Red Bubble Shop