Digital Dashboard Device Detects Driver Drowsiness 117
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."
Who cares about the article's content... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Great stuff (Score:3, Informative)
Don't you hate it when you're trying to make a joke and somebody mods you "insightful"? =)
For the learning-impaired moderators:
ABS isn't just for snow and ice. ABS will stop you faster slamming on the brakes on a dry surface than trying to keep from skidding without it; if the tires are skidding, they have almost zero traction, as was demonstrated in a driving course in the USAF. ABS will stop a car faster than the same car without it in any conditions. The added benefit is you can still steer with the brakes slammed on.
Anybody stupid enough to not wear their seat belts because the car has air bags isn't going to wear their seat belt anyway.
Not looking at the speedo is safer than looking at it -- you have to take your eyes off the road for a second to see the speedometer. Plus, your gas mileage is much better using your cruise than driving without.
Re:Great stuff (Score:2, Informative)
ABS will stop you faster slamming on the brakes on a dry surface than trying to keep from skidding without it; if the tires are skidding, they have almost zero traction, as was demonstrated in a driving course in the USAF. ABS will stop a car faster than the same car without it in any conditions. The added benefit is you can still steer with the brakes slammed on.
This is wrong. What ABS does is allow you to control the direction of your car when your tires would otherwise lose traction. In fact, the stopping distance with ABS is actually longer than without.
Re:Great stuff (Score:3, Informative)
No, do some research. If your brakes are locked up all your "braking" is the friction between tire and road. When the wheels are turning the brakes change kenetik energy to heat. This was proven decades ago, it's elemental physics.
For the test, they equip cars with a device with a gun that shoots chalk when the passenger presses a button, when the brakes are applied, and when the car is stopped. It's a VERY effective demonstration of reaction distance and stopping distance -- I've participated in this. I agree it's counterintuitive, but much in physics is.
Being able to steer while the pedal is mashed is an added advantage.