The company committed to innovating new methods of driver instruction in 1935, when it introduced the "Reactometer", the first machine designed to record motorists' reaction time.
The Reactometer was awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris Exposition of 1937, after which it toured the United States as part of a highway safety exhibit, and was displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
A motion picture projected on a large screen in front of the room provided the visual stimulus of a drive on streets and highways, while the students "drove" their simulators.
[1] The complete course included 22 films produced by Aetna in its motion picture bureau, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education.
Over time, their appearance was periodically updated, and later versions were equipped with simulated automatic transmission controls, rather than clutches and manual shift levers.