Seeing Machines Releases Safety Results for Fatigue, Distraction Monitoring System
Guardian uses a driver-facing camera and image processing software to track the movement of the driver’s eyes and head for signs of drowsiness or distraction.
When the system detects such an event, it actively intervenes by generating an audible alert and a seat vibration to prevent the driver from nodding off, returning the driver's attention to the road.
“This idea of stopping it before it happens is really at the core of what we do,” Mirza Kozarcanin, senior vice president of business development, said here during a press briefing at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition.
The new safety data, collected from three U.S.-based fleets, found that microsleep events, where the driver’s eyes close completely while driving, fell by 100%, 75% and 71%.
Mobile phone-related distraction events dropped by 100%, 97% and 77%.
And distraction events at high speed were reduced by 83%, 49% and 43%.
Seeing Machines also announced that Atlanta-based carrier Royal Food Service will deploy Guardian throughout its fleet.
“We care about our drivers and want to make sure each one gets home safely every day,” Mark McClendon, chief financial officer at the food distributor, said in a statement.
Today Guardian is available as an aftermarket system, but Seeing Machines’ “long term goal is to have it embedded in the vehicle,” Kozarcanin said.
