Road Accidents are increasingly becoming the number one cause of death in the US. According to a report by Ice Bike, each year roughly 1,300,000 people are killed while they are driving on the road. Road accidents can take place due to a number of reasons. Chief of the causes could be talking/texting on the phone while driving. Individuals often get distracted while indulging in such activities. Scientists from the University of Waterloo have now come with a way to curb this activity while driving.
Everything you need to know
According to a report by Daily Mail, a new system that detects when a user texts while driving, has been developed.
As soon as it has been detected, the system immediately sends the user an alert regarding the issue. The system makes use of sensors in the smartphone, such as its camera or microphone to track such activities. The Artificial Intelligence is also taught the specific hand movements that a normal driving position may include.
Fakhri Karray on the technology
The leader of the study, Fakhri Karray is of the opinion that they could possibly make use of this technology to ensure road safety. Drivers could be provided with this facility in their smartphones, to avoid dangerous mishaps on-road. Something like this could especially come to use as autonomous vehicles are progressing to be mainstream. In fact, this should be among the top features that self-driving technology must include, Dr.
Karray added. “The car could actually take over driving if there were imminent danger, even for a short while, in order to avoid crashes,” Dr. Karray said.
The scientists developed this system by creating an Artificial Intelligence based on specific algorithms. The users are taught to identify certain actions including driving, texting, talking and others.
The system also takes the duration of the action into consideration before alerting the user. If it is more than a certain period of time, then it immediately sends the user an alert. Hand and head movements are also put into purview. Those who drive at night often fall asleep while operating the vehicle. This has also led to many unfortunate mishaps on the road.
The system is also taught how to avoid this from taking place. The number of times an individual blink is also taken into consideration. This is done so that the system can detect whether the person is tired. No details regarding when this system will be rolled out for mainstream use has been provided by the scientists yet.
