Tobii Technology says "eyes are the best gauge of a person's level of attention to the road" as it launches a driver drowsiness and distraction detection platform based on eye tracking technology.
The system detects eyes of all shapes, sizes and colours-- even through glasses and sunglasses, without the need for calibration. The in-car safety system receives a "constant, uninterrupted" eye tracking data stream (regardless of environmental conditions such as sunlight and darkness) and decides on driver states accordingly.
The company estimates 25% of all fatal road accidents are caused by driver fatigue, while according to Eurostat road accidents cause 35000 fatalities on European streets annually.
The system has other potential uses-- from in-vehicle infotainment system control to individual driver recognition (with automatic personal driver setting activation). Who knows, maybe in a year or two we'll browse mp3 collections through blinking alone-- while being kept safe from drowsiness on the highways.
Watch The Tobii Driver Drowsiness and Distraction Platform in Action
The process involves treating the crab shell with a mixture of hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and ethanol. The chemicals remove all minerals, proteins, lipids, fats and pigments from the shell-- leaving translucent chitin.
If one is to believe the organisation, a lot of devices are, well, filthy. And full of bacteria. Keyboards, apparently, are 5x dirtier than a toilet seat (and carry 150x the "acceptable limit for bacteria limits") while 16% of mobile phones "were found to have poop on them." Eek! Switches, microwave buttons and even door handles are also found to be germ havens.
And it looks cute while doing the job, too.
The first reported was the Australian case-- on Nov. 25, on a Regional Express flight to Sydney, "an iPhone was so red hot it started smoking, partially melted and had to be doused by a flight attendant with a fire extinguisher," according to a report from the airline.
