Imagine Wi-Fi that spans two kilometers; or a car safety system that beams news of an accident, vehicle to vehicle, from far ahead on a lightly traveled road; or a mobile phone whose calls almost never drop.
Yet another partnership has been forged to help usher in the era of self-driving software: This time, it's Volvo, which announced (via Reuters) a joint venture with Swedish-American car safety system supplier Autoliv to create autonomous driving.
The companies use the data to determine how well the car safety systems work.
Prototype car safety systems are learning to watch the driver, as well as the road ahead, to predict future maneuvers more than three seconds before a driver makes them.
The best versions already have refinements such as "hill hold" (which prevents run-back as a driver prepares to drive uphill from standstill) and "hill descent control" (which slows, straightens and avoids wheel-locking as a car descends a steep hill).In future, the trick will be to link stability control with other rapidly advancing car safety systems.
It will give researchers the chance to test car safety systems, for example, or ride virtual shotgun with drivers whose abilities are impaired by alcohol or medication or who are so absorbed in a cell-phone conversation that they do not notice that they are driving off the road.
In 2007, Lexus introduced the first car safety systems with infrared and pedestrian detection capabilities, lane keep assist, a Driver Monitoring System with facial recognition monitoring of driver attentiveness, and rear pre-collision whiplash protection, as part of the LS 460 PCS.
PLUX's Hugo Silva tells TechCrunch the consortium has created a working prototype of its embedded fatigue-detecting in-car safety system, which will undergo extensive testing in controlled scenarios — so it's some years out before this sort of sensor-powered safety system could start being embedded into car seats.
WayRay as a company is spread across two countries that have been strong for AI, specifically computer vision talent, and in-car safety systems.
Integrating a network interface, GPS receiver, sensors, and on-board computers presents an opportunity to build a powerful car-safety system, capable of gathering, processing, and distributing information.
AI also is increasingly part of automobile safety systems, with fully autonomous cars and trucks on the horizon.
