Every year, 1.3 million people die from road traffic injuries. To combat this loss of human life, automakers have implemented driver monitoring systems that improve road safety by understanding signs of driver impairment, such as drowsiness or distraction. Driver monitoring system adoption also is driven by regulatory frameworks such as the European New Car Assessment Program, or Euro NCAP, which require the systems for a five-star safety rating.
However, forthcoming regulations from Euro NCAP, the U.S. Hot Cars Act and the U.S. infrastructure bill will soon require systems that measure not only driver state but the cabin as a whole. This requires a deeper level of insight than what driver monitoring systems can provide.
As a result, we're witnessing the evolution of driver monitoring systems to "interior sensing," a rapidly emerging market in which artificial intelligence and several modalities such as computer vision are applied to measure the state of the driver, the cabin and occupants. In addition to meeting regulatory requirements, these systems present compelling opportunities for automakers to differentiate on both safety and experience.