A new report claimed that a hacker uncovered the key events that the new driver-facing camera was designed to detect.
The Tesla Model 3 was launched shipping with a not yet active standard cabin-facing camera located in the rearview mirror, and while Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that it would be used to prevent people from vandalizing cars, it appears that it could so much more.
The recent discovery about the functionality of the driver-facing camera of Tesla Model 3 was reported by Electrek. According to the report, a hacker named green has uncovered the key events that the Tesla software for the Driver-facing camera is designed to detect. Some of these centers on the driver's gaze like eyes up, eyes down, phone use, and eyes closed.
The hacker also revealed other events that the Driver-facing camera of Tesla Model 3 is programmed to detect. This includes blinded, dark, eyes nominal, head down, and head trunc. There are also words like looking left, looking right, sunglasses_eyes_likely_nominal, and sunglasses_eyes_likely_down.
These events suggest that Tesla will probably explore the driver-monitoring system based on gaze tracking instead of simply planning to use the camera to monitor passengers. The only active driver monitoring feature of Tesla vehicles is when the Autopilot is engaged. The feature detects if the torque is applied to the vehicle's wheels.
Other brands also offer driver-assist systems. This includes General Motors' Supercruisde, which uses cabin-facing cameras to ensure drivers' eyes are on the road. In April, Elon Musk confirmed that one functionality of the driver-facing camera on Tesla Model 3 is for monitoring passengers in its future robotaxis network.
In case you were wondering what does the selfie camera in model 3 currently try to detect:
BLINDED
DARK
EYES_CLOSED
EYES_DOWN
EYES_NOMINAL
EYES_UP
HEAD_DOWN
HEAD_TRUNC
LOOKING_LEFT
LOOKING_RIGHT
PHONE_USE
SUNGLASSES_EYES_LIKELY_NOMINAL
SUNGLASSES_LIKELY_EYES_DOWN — green (@greentheonly) October 4, 2020
The CEO mentioned that the camera, located in the middle of the rearview mirror of all Tesla Model 3, could dissuade passengers from vandalizing vehicles or capture evidence of the act at the very least. At that time, the camera was inactive. In June, three years after Tesla Model 3 was released in the market, the company released a software update that activated the driver-facing camera.
Through this, the company was allowed to "automatically capture a short video clip or images just before a collision or safety event. These videos or images would not be linked to a driver. However, Tesla would use it to help its engineers develop safety features for its vehicles in the future.
