Driver monitoring tech, synthetic data deployed to prevent road accidents

Artificial intelligence (AI) and biometrics are not just a hot trend in the automotive industry. The technologies are also becoming a crucial part of road safety with jurisdictions such as the EU and the U.S. expected to roll out mandatory driver monitoring systems (DMS), which scan drivers’ faces and eyes for signs of fatigue and distraction.

Here is how governments and companies are rolling out driver monitoring technology, from facial analysis road safety initiatives to using synthetic data to train algorithms.

Indian bus drivers will be monitored by facial analysis

Public bus drivers in the Indian state of Telangana will no longer be able to scroll through their mobile phones while driving after authorities have decided to equip buses with CCTV cameras and AI.

Aside from using mobile phones, the driver monitoring system (DMS) will be able to detect whether drivers are distracted or feeling drowsy while driving with the help of facial recognition technology, The Hindu reports.

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) is planning to install 190 driver monitoring systems through government AI road safety initiative iRaste, a part of wider efforts to incorporate AI into mobility and healthcare services supported by Intel, the International Institute of Information Technology in Hyderabad and the Government of Telangana. The project was first floated in 2021.

India has also been applying facial recognition tech in cracking down on fraudulent SIM cards, prison management, public surveillance and more.

Smart Eye signs deal with Linde for driver monitoring tech

Driver monitoring system (DMS) technology developer Smart Eye has signed its first major contract with a fleet customer with Linde, the world’s largest industrial gas company.

The global multinational will be using Smart Eye’s product called AIS for its heavy vehicle fleet for gas distribution in Nordic and Baltic countries. AIS (Applied AI Systems) is a hardware and software system that includes a camera for monitoring drivers.

“We have put great effort into developing AIS, a very high-quality driver monitoring system that is ideal for aftermarket installation in heavy vehicles,” says Magnus Brunzell, Smart Eye’s vice president for AIS.

The Sweden-headquartered company’s driver monitoring systems have been installed in over a million cars, helping track driver behavior with AI, the company said in a release. Smart Eye acquired Affectiva in 2021 for $73.5 million, expanding its presence in new markets. The company has offices in the U.S., UK, Germany, Denmark, Egypt, Singapore, China and Japan.

Seeing Machines will use synthetic data to improve driver monitoring

Computer vision company Seeing Machines has announced it will be using computer-generated synthetic data to improve its driver monitoring system (DMS). The high-quality data will be provided by Swedish startup Devant, which creates synthetic data to train machine learning.

Seeing Machines says that the collaboration will help speed up the training of AI that underpins its solutions. The move is part of a larger digital engineering initiative designed to improve its position on the in-cab monitoring market as new global transportation safety regulations approach: DMS is expected to become mandatory worldwide this decade, the company said.

“This approach to data generation will enable our machine learning to cover a broader range of human activity, improving system response times without compromising quality,” Seeing Machines CEO Paul McGlone says in a statement.

Launched in 2000, Seeing Machines is a spin-out of the Australian National University’s collaboration with Volvo. Nearly 900,000 vehicles use its safety technology while its customers include Ford, General Motors and Mercedes.

Article Topics

automotive biometrics  |  eye tracking  |  facial recognition  |  monitoring  |  Seeing Machines  |  Smart Eye  |  synthetic data