Smart Eye lands first police deal for biometric drug impairment detection

Biometric driver monitoring systems (DMS) maker Smart Eye will provide its drug impairment detection technology to an unnamed European police authority. The 40 million Swedish kronor (US$4.1 million) contract is the first law enforcement deal for the Swedish company and opens up a new business vertical in the government sector, according to its founder and CEO, Martin Krantz.

The system will help screen individuals for drug use by evaluating eye movements, pupil response and other behavioral signals, allowing  police to decide whether further testing, such as blood analysis, is necessary. The contract will last for four years.

The deal was made through Smart Eye’s newly acquired subsidiary Sightic, which develops alcohol and drug impairment detection technology and holds one of the world’s largest real-world behavioral impairment datasets.

“We have spent several years developing and validating this approach to impairment detection,” says Sightic co-founder Jenny Johansson. “Seeing it adopted by a law enforcement authority shows that it can deliver value in practical, high-stakes environments.”​

The duo revealed the $6.7 million acquisition deal in February, promising to create an all-in-one integrated system that can detect various types of driver impairments.

Smart Eye also announced the establishment of a new business area within Industry and Law Enforcement, focused on developing methods for testing substances other than alcohol. The latest deal is a step in this direction.​

“This breakthrough order is of great importance,” says Krantz, CEO and Founder of Smart Eye. “If we can sell this to one police authority, we can sell it to many.”​

Smart Eye supplies biometric driver monitoring systems (DMS) to well-known automakers such as Volvo, Nissan, and BMW. In March, the company announced new deals that will see its software installed in two new truck models from an existing European customer.

The estimated revenue for the order is 15 million Swedish kronor ($1.5 million) based on product life-cycle projections. The new truck models equipped with Smart Eye’s DMS are scheduled to be produced in 2028.

“Having successfully delivered our first two projects together, we expect to do more business going forward,” says Krantz.

Meanwhile, Smart Eye and Fingerprint Cards (FPC) have developed a new multimodal biometric authentication system that combines facial recognition with iris verification. The technology can be used in a wide range of applications, including in‑vehicle access and personalization, smart home systems, media interaction, cybersecurity, and other access‑controlled environments.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  law enforcement  |  police  |  Smart Eye