The Wall Street Journal did a fascinating story Wednesday on Detroit experimenting with equipping cars with so-called biometric sensors. These devices can monitor a brain’s electrical activity, or gauge if a driver is getting sleepy, and check heart rates and blood sugar levels.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324352004578131083891595840.html
The point of these devices, according to the story “A Car That Takes Your Pulse,” is to detect physical distress signs in a motorist, and then have the car’s safety system intercede to prevent any looming accidents. One of the devices being developed would detect if a driver is drunk, and prevent the vehicle from starting with that driver behind the wheel.
And this is not just pie-in-the-sky future talk. Some Lexus and Mercedes-Benz models already have gear that sounds warnings if it detects “drowsy-driving behavior,” according to The Journal.
Ferrari is testing technology that would monitor a driver’s brain waves for stress, by using wireless electrodes in headrests, The Journal reported. If the driver is severally stressed, the car would react by cutting off power to the motor, The Journal wrote.
The details of this research are outlined in the article, and are well worth reading.
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