Distracted driving kills, and distracted drivers account for one in three motor vehicle accidents in the European Union, according to data from the European Commission.
Having digital cameras linked to an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm monitor the fluttering of a driver's eyelids is at the core of a new technology that must be built into new cars taking to EU roads in 2022. Working in tandem, these technologies will detect when a driver's eyelids are getting heavy, or when a driver distracted from looking at his mobile phone or turning towards another passenger.
The algorithm was trained using recordings of real driving situations. It makes a judgment on a driver's fatigue depending on his eyelid position and eye-blink rate. The algorithm and the system of which it's a part will then alert a driver that he's drowsy. It will recommend a driver take a break if he's tired, or will take control of the vehicle by reducing the vehicle's speed.
"Based on all this information, it can recognize if you're getting tired because the frequency of your eyelids opening and closing gets much slower," said Annett Fischer, spokesperson for Robert Bosch GmbH to CNN.
Bosch, the German multinational engineering and Technology Company, is positioning itself as one of the main providers of this new technology. This month, Bosch announced it had developed an interior monitoring system that detects drowsy and distracted drivers. The Bosch technology will be built into new cars from 2022.
The form of the alert can come in sound, light, slowing down or even a vibrating steering wheel. This will depend on the automaker's wishes, as they will adapt the system according to their brand and their consumers, said Fischer.
The system also monitors passengers with a front and rear camera. It further ensures seatbelts are fastened and airbags are correctly positioned.
Bosch said data collected by its system will only be evaluated by software in the car itself, and will neither be saved nor passed onto Bosch or third parties. Fischer said that if a carmaker wants to store any kind of data from the driver, it would have to receive consent from a driver first.
Bosch, however, isn't the first developer of this kind of technology. Seeing Machines debuted its driver monitoring technology in the 2018 Cadillac CT6. Swedish company Smart Eye Automotive Solutions has developed a system for Geely, one of China's biggest carmakers.
Based in Canberra, Australia, Seeing Machines is a world leader in driver-machine interaction and specializes in computer vision algorithms that precisely track eye gaze, head position and pupil size. Smart Eye is a leader in Driver Monitoring System (DMS) and Interior Sensing algorithms for integration in vehicles.
