Your Car Will Soon Sense If You're Tired Or Not Paying Attention 178
cartechboy writes "Distracted driving is a large issue, and it's getting worse as we become more entangled with our technology. To help combat this growing problem Volvo is showing off new technology that allows the car to sense when a driver is tired or not paying attention. The system bathes the driver in infrared light that can pick up the driver's position and eye movements. If the driver becomes inattentive or begins to drift off to sleep, it will alert you. Besides the safety aspect of this system, it will also be able to recognize the person sitting behind the wheel, allowing the car to tailor itself to that person's stored preferences. Further, it will be able to adjust the vehicle's exterior lighting in the direction the driver is looking based on the detected eye movement. Volvo's quick to note the system can't photograph the driver. People, the future is coming, and your vehicle is going to be watching you."
Re:Not If I don't buy it (Score:5, Insightful)
Infrared Blind (Score:5, Insightful)
The system bathes the driver in infrared light
Anyone else feels like this is going to be a strain on our eyes?
Re:Not If I don't buy it (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, and I hate how that evil government makes me purchase seat belts and air bags. And brakes, not just that, but brakes that meet safety standards. Stupid government "knowing best".
Not a tech problem, not a tech solution (Score:3, Insightful)
Why does everyone think that everything can be solved with technology? Oh, right, it's easier to sell than telling everyone they mostly suck at something and that they need to get better at it than, "here's a magic $product that will fix all your problems."
The problem is not technology, the problem is not our gadgets,; the problem is our collective attitude about driving and (lack of) training. Requirements to obtain (and retain) a driver's license in some countries would be shocking to most people in North America. Our standards are pathetic and woefully inadequate. Oh, you can follow some basic instructions that a chimp could do for 15 minutes? Here, now you can drive anything outside of a big rig, motorcycle or bus (unless it's an RV, because apparently, having fewer passengers magically turns it into an agile sports sedan... or something), including hauling your big-ass 5th wheel.
That shit doesn't fly in places where driving is taken seriously. Just Google "driving license in [European country]" and wait for your jaw to drop.
If we actually trained people to have vehicular and situational awareness, they would realize that it's a bad idea to be dicking around with their gizmos while operating a multi-ton projectile around hundreds of other multi-ton projectiles, pedestrians, cyclists and municipal structures... and we wouldn't be trying to develop bullshit tech like this or legislating laws ripe for abuse.
That kind of training takes years of practice, not 15 minutes in a mostly controlled situation. But you can't put that in a box and slap on a price sticker.