The Aisin Group, a Japanese-based automotive, life product, and welfare related producer and distributor, has developed a prototype monitoring and warning system for vehicles that uses a range of biometric measurements to help ensure road safety.
The system includes a head tracker, which detects where the driver’s face is and which way he is facing. The camera for the head tracker also works as an eye tracker to monitor whether or not the driver’s eyes are closed. The seat contains an electric sensor that detects heart rate and respiration.
When any of the above metrics is abnormal, or if the driver looks away from the road or closes his eyes for too long, the “Intelligent Transportation System” pops up and says a phrase dependent on the situation, ranging from “Wake up,” to “That’s dangerous,” to “Are you all right?”
Additionally, the demo vehicle features outward cameras to keep an eye on the car’s blind spots. When an object is too close, the car warns the driver of the danger so he can react accordingly. In fact, the manufacturers are also hoping to eventually get the system to a point where it could even pull over the car on its own if the driver became incompetent.
Though biometrics have been used in safety before, this is one of the first projects of this scale. Many car companies are toying with the idea of using eye tracking for fatigue detection, but full scale biometric measuring? That’s a whole new level.
