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Digital Dashboard Device Detects Driver Drowsiness
Pickens writes "Science Daily Headlines reports that researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology have developed a self-contained, dashboard-mounted assistant system that tracks a driver's eye movements and issues a warning before the driver has an opportunity to nod off to sleep. 'What we have developed is a small modular system with its own hardware and programs on board, so that the line of vision is computed directly within the camera itself,' says Professor Husar. 'Since the Eyetracker is fitted with at least two cameras that record images stereoscopically — meaning in three dimensions — the system can easily identify the spatial position of the pupil and the line of vision.' The cameras, which can be installed in any model of car, evaluate up to 200 images per second to identify the line of vision. If the camera modules detect that the eye is closed for longer than a user-defined interval, it sounds an alarm. The Eyetracker also has applications in computer games where players could look around themselves without requiring a joystick to change their viewing direction, and in marketing and advertising, where researchers could determine which parts of a poster or advertising spot receive longer attention from their viewers."
I think the title has only got Ds in it.
does it also sell sea shells by the sea shore?
I see no problems in making this mandatory in traffic a.s.a.p.
Worst case scenario is that a silly alarm goes off when the system makes a mistake. It has very few disadvantages... the price is probably the biggest problem. Best case scenario is that it saves the lives of a number of people, saves the relatives a lot of grief, saves the health system a lot of work, the taxpayers a lot of money, etc...
I'm a little sad to see that advertisers have already seen opportunities to use this to improve marketing tricks... but I guess every invention can be abused. And in this case, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
So rather than 10 crashes because people fell asleep...
We have 20 crashes because rather than stopping for a coffee and a rest people relied on this and crashed when the alarm went off ...
If you are driving tired you are an accident waiting to happen .. falling asleep is just the worst case
Puteulanus fenestra mortis
What if you, like me, drive while wearing these: http://rosem.aloak.ca/acatalog/250315.jpg
Needs more words that start with "D"
K Man
I'll be able to keep going now when I'm driving late and tired instead of pulling in at a rest stop, knowing that the car will wake me. Technology has done so much for drivers, with ABS we don't need to slow down in snow and ice, air bags mean we don't need to bother with seat belts and cruise control means you don't need to look at the speedo.
++ Definitely Diminishing Distinct Danger
I think you got the 100% irrelevant spot on.
Is the Register's headline writer now working for slashdot ?
while (true != false) process_more_stupid_code();
Who cares about the article's content, when the title was written with 6 words that start with "D". It could have been better, though: "Digital Dashboard Device Diligently Detects Driver Drowsiness".
I rarely respond to comments. Also, don't ask for clarifications: a brain and Google are faster, believe me!
Because every day the sun shines there'll be thousands of cars at the side of the road with their sunglasses-wearing drivers taking a nap :-)
This is already in some Lexus models. Years ago..
Rubber baby buggy bumper!
The Eyetracker also has applications in computer games where players could look around themselves without requiring a joystick to change their viewing direction
Hum, if I look to my left all I see is the wall. So will this system also move the computer screen / tv around so I see what it is trying to show me in game?
I wonder how well it copes with head movement.
TFA shows very zoomed in images of eyes and two large cameras, but they say the system is "half the size of a matchbox". If each camera plus processor is really so small, that's a pretty good system. And they say it can do it at 200 FPS? Thats a lot of image processing.
I suspect they locate the eyes in a low resolution image first then just process the eye regions at 200 Hz, keeping them centred to account for head movement. Otherwise it would be impossible in the matchbox size with current DSPs.
Anyone have more details?
Its' about time people started looking into how to make our roads safer, and keeping tired motorists awake is one good way of doing it. Not everyone has the time or inclination to take a break every once in a while. Perhaps these could be sold separate in places like DubLi to ensure that any Joe could buy one without having to buy a new car?
Digital Dashboard Device Detects Driver Drowsiness, Delivers Desoxyn
Set your phasers on "funky"!
"Hey! Stop staring at your passenger's breasts and look at the road!"
I was driving along and all of a sudden I woke up to a really annoying sound WHILE crashing in to a tree.
I prefer not to have loud alarms going off while I am trying to get much-needed rest!
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I'd like to see this adapted to work as a pointer interface. Screw drowsy drivers, Nerds everywhere can make better use of this tech.
I'd rather die quietly in my sleep, like my grandfather, than screaming in fear, like the people in his car
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
not that it's 'stuff that matters' to anyone here, but you never know when consciousness/conscience may 'kick (one) in (the head/heart)'.
*bing* *bong*
It looks like you are about to crash. Would you like me to:
- Engage Google Autodrive?
- Pre-load 911 into the OnStar system?
- Locate your nearest next of kin on the GPS system?
The Eyetracker also has applications in computer games where players could look around themselves without requiring a joystick to change their viewing direction
1) Player wants to move the in game camera left 45 degrees
2) Player moves eyes left 45 degrees
3) The camera moves successfully, but the player doesn't see that because their eyes were pointing at their desk lamp to the side of the monitor
4) Not profit!
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
...the drowsiness data will be fed directly to your insurance company, so that they can deny any claims that you make and raise your rates because of your "dangerous driving habits".
Isn't progress grand?
I for one am looking forward to this. Time Crisis 2015: (Please look away from screen to reload)
How is this news? Seeing Machines has been doing this for 10 years. Stereo cameras, or single camera, and an API for DIY projects. Oh, and stereo calibration issues make this impossible in an automotive application due to vibration and calibration issues. Where do those cameras go on the dash? The big IR emitter? Hmmm... Detecting Drowsiness eh? Yawn... Full disclosure, I do work for the aforementioned company, but I've been in this area for more than ten years.
People are like that. That Mercedes commercial royally ticks me off, with quotes like "I didn't realize I was drifting into the other lane" and "I didn't realize the car in front of me had stopped." Why the fuck are you driving then?! Yes, its a commercial, but there are really people like this on the road. The world revolves around them and they are not paying attention to what they are supposed to be doing, or their surroundings, or their state of mind. I would not doubt for a minute that these people would rely entirely on the technology to tell them something they should already know, and drive in a dangerous condition prior to the alarm going off.
This is great - it would also be ideal for, diabetes, heart conditions and other problems that could lead to loss of consciousness. Potentially it could also note the location of the user by GPS or mobile mast triangulation. That information could then be reported to their doctor, family, and local emergency services over the internet. Add a web portal, and there are all sorts of additional possibilities.
Ben
Guys. Stop worrying about the resolution of the device or ability to track head movements.
Most people wear some kind of glasses when driving. Sun glasses will render this device completely useless.
Damn nerds.
I give it a D.
We have half a tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's night, and we're wearing sunglasses. LET'S ROLL!
Free Martian Whores!
Word for word, that is.
Can timothy confirm if he's the same person that submitted this to Fark? Or is Fark stealing headlines (with the added advantage of making money from t-shirts of the headline, should anyone wish to buy one)?
Shiny. Let's be bad guys...
The MB 2010 E Class cars already have this. But I don't think it's calibrated for Asians. The thing won't shut off!
I'm passing on my mod points, because I actually have done research in drowsy driver warnings. You are correct that this warning is too late and drivers need the warning sooner. Also, people are downright terrible at accurately judging how tired they are.
Back in the late 1990's the US DOT started funding a series of projects on this topic for commercial truck drivers. DOT wanted a method for measuring drowsiness before things got to the point where drivers were closing their eyes for seconds at a time. A measure called PERCLOS was developed and subsequently implemented in a dashboard mounted sensor (gee, that sounds like the abstract).
The difference is that the system used a single camera and was actually tested on drowsy drivers in a simulator and validated in a very large road study. The system developed under DOT research issued a warning as drivers were moving up the drowsiness curve, not when they went over the cliff. Truck drivers need to know at least 10-20 minutes before an exit that they need to get off and take a nap since safe parking areas are spaced too far.
Furthermore, the system was designed specifically with driver acceptance in mind. It was designed to be similar to a speedometer, rather than an alarm clock. It provided objective information on how tired you were and only issued an alarm when you crossed a dangerous threshold. Some cars allow you set similar threshold warnings for speed.
In terms of coffee, it does help, but not when used the way most of us think it does nor is the impact very large. Also, it doesn't help at all when you're over the drowsiness cliff and are closing your eyes long enough to trigger the system in this article. By then, you're in the cornfield (if you're lucky) or wrapped around a tree (if not).
This is great until you realize you're cooking your retinas..
I know when I'm too tired to drive (which is far too often) - and I don't.
I hope this ability for judgment carries over once I start drinking...
I have noticed a surprising amount of analogies between sleep deprivation and intoxication; this is one.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.