Connected Cars Get Smart by Anticipating Driver Needs

While drivers are operating the connected cars of the future, the cars may be looking back at them and their passengers. Three exhibitors at CES displayed cabin monitoring systems that use cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) to perform such functions as alerting a driver who is drowsy and notifying a driver who is leaving the car if they’ve left a child in the back seat.

Smart Eye received a CES 2022 Innovation Award for Smart Eye Automotive Interior Sensing, which has cameras that can spot details such as eye gaze, head movement and body posture and artificial intelligence (AI) that can interpret what they mean.

The company says this can alert drivers if they are driving dangerously and can unlock features that enhance wellness, comfort and entertainment, such as adjusting the seats and other preferences based on who’s driving and enabling the driver to adjust the volume of the media system by looking at it. The new system expands upon the driver monitoring systems Smart Eye has offered for years.

“Now, we are expanding our view beyond just the driver, to monitor the full cabin, to understand what is happening inside a vehicle,” Smart Eye Founder and CEO Martin Krantz said in a press release. “The industry is rapidly adopting these multi-model Interior Sensing solutions, in response to evolving requirements for advanced safety features and next-generation mobility experiences.”

Enabling In-Cabin Video Phone Calls

Similarly, Gentex Corporation demonstrated driver and cabin monitoring solutions at CES. Its system includes an infrared-sensitive, high-resolution camera together with technology that allows it to assess behavior, gestures and activities.

The company says its system can determine if a driver is distracted or drowsy. In the case of semi-autonomous vehicles, it can also decide whether the driver is ready for a return of manual control. Gentex also said drivers can use the system to make video phone calls or take a selfie in the cabin.

Together with this system, the company displayed at CES a technology that monitors air quality in the cabin of a vehicle and identifies potential airborne contaminants.

“Our goal is to provide automakers with holistic cabin monitoring solutions, from simple driver monitoring through complete cabin monitoring and machine olfaction,” Neil Boehm, vice president of engineering and chief technology officer at Gentex, said in a press release. “We’re engineering a comprehensive and scalable platform based on robust sensor fusion techniques that will allow us to provide features for today’s vehicles as well as transitionary and completely autonomous vehicles.”

Developing the Intelligent Interior for Vehicles

Valeo displayed at CES its Valeo Safe Insight, which combines three safety technologies for inside the vehicle to create what it calls “the intelligent interior.” This tech includes the Valeo Driver Monitoring System (DMS), which scans drivers’ faces; the Valeo Interior Monitoring System (IMS), which recognizes when passengers are onboard, and the Valeo Interior Radar System (IRS), which detects when there is someone in a stationary car.

The company’s suggested use cases for the system include activating child locks when a child is detected on the rear seat, activating personal settings such as temperature and speaker volume after identifying the driver, alerting the driver when they take their eyes off the road, reminding passengers to use their seat belt and notifying the driver if they’ve left a child behind when leaving a parked car.