Preventing fatigue driving: Capturing sleepiness that you don’t even notice

Preventing fatigue driving

Technology to detect driver drowsiness has reached a practical level. This technology can quickly detect drowsiness by analyzing the blood vessels in the earlobe and the heartbeat. Following commercial applications such as buses, simple and easy-to-use products for general consumers have also appeared.

"I usually pay attention to health management and get enough sleep. If I have this, I can drive more safely," said Hiroaki Uejima, a driver for Kanagawa Chuo Transportation Co., which operates buses and highway buses in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Shima showed me a neck-worn terminal. This is the "FEELythm" launched by Fujitsu in February 2015. From a distance, it looks like a headset. This product has the potential to change the current situation of transportation in Japan.

FEELythm uses sensors to detect the pulse wave of the earlobe, that is, the pressure of the capillaries that changes with the heartbeat. The principle is to use sensors to capture the strength of the pulse and analyze it to calculate the degree of sleepiness. It can grasp the precursors of sleepiness that the driver himself is not aware of. Once the sleepiness increases, the driver will be reminded to prevent accidents caused by fatigue driving.

Drowsiness sensing technology is an important step towards achieving autonomous driving. The technical difficulty of achieving a "fully autonomous car" is very high. Currently, people must operate the steering wheel to avoid danger. When switching from autonomous driving to manual driving, if the driver is dozing off, a major accident may occur. Toshio Kusunoki of Fujitsu's Ubiquitous Products Business Group, which is responsible for the development of FEELythm, said that "fatigue driving prevention systems are very effective" in preventing such situations.

Kanagawa Chuo Transportation Co., Ltd., a large bus operator, conducted a verification experiment of FEELythm in cooperation with Fujitsu in March 2015, with 150 drivers wearing the product. After analyzing the data, Hitoshi Yoneyama, the managing director of Kanagawa Chuo Information Systems, said with satisfaction: "The driver's drowsiness, which was previously impossible to grasp, has been visualized."

FEELythm is worn loosely around the neck like a lanyard. It is powered by a lithium battery and can be used continuously for a week without charging to meet the needs of long-distance truck driving. It weighs about 90g and is not a burden at all.

Vibration warning when sleepiness increases

The wires extending from the fuselage are connected to an ear clip with an infrared sensor built in. The ear clip is clipped on the earlobe to collect the driver's pulse data.

The pulse data collected by the sensor will be sent to a dedicated device or smartphone installed in the car for real-time analysis to calculate the "drowsiness level". The figure below shows the change in the driver's drowsiness. It can be seen that the driver's drowsiness will increase on highways with light traffic. However, when encountering situations such as cutting in and the tension increases, the driver will temporarily regain consciousness.

When a dedicated device or smartphone detects that the driver is becoming sleepy, the FEELythm host worn around the neck will vibrate and remind the driver through a voice message saying "I'm feeling sleepy, please take a rest."

Drivers may not even be aware of the onset of sleepiness. FEELythm is able to detect this phenomenon as a precursor to sleepiness and notify the driver. By issuing a warning before sleepiness actually sets in, accidents can be nipped in the bud.

"The pulse is always fluctuating," explains Masahide Yamazoe, a senior manager at Fujitsu's ubiquitous business strategy headquarters. "When the driver is awake, the pulse fluctuates sharply, but when they become tired, the fluctuations decrease."

The shape of the pulse wave varies from person to person, and FEELythm can automatically sense the shape and adjust it. After using it for 2 weeks, the accuracy of judging the sleepiness level will be greatly improved.

Fujitsu's goal was not just to develop an "alarm clock".

By linking the data collected by FEELythm with the operation management systems of truck and bus companies, it is possible to reveal the places and times where drivers are prone to drowsiness, such as when and where they are driving. Fujitsu will use this data to identify roads where people are prone to drowsiness, and further reduce the risk of accidents by creating hazard maps and adjusting driver shifts.

By analyzing pulse data in more depth, in addition to sleepiness, it is also possible to reveal the degree of stress and fatigue. Fujitsu's Kusunoki Yama said enthusiastically that in the future, "we will also provide services to help drivers manage their health." The price of FEELythm is 50,000 to 60,000 yen. The company hopes to sell 70,000 units in the next three years and gradually accumulate data.

Using glasses to detect sleepy eyes

Fujitsu is not the only company that sees business opportunities in sleepiness sensing technology, as the spread of communication methods such as Bluetooth has made it possible to collect data from a variety of devices in real time.

Toshiba Information Systems develops a sleepiness sensing system using medical sensors (right)

Toshiba Information Systems' "Body Future Safe Driving Attendance Service" can use medical sensors to detect electrocardiograms and sense drowsiness. The "Silmee" sensor used in medical sites is attached to the driver's chest with gel. In addition to detecting drowsiness by analyzing the electrocardiogram, it can also use the smartphone installed in the car to sense sudden braking, steering wheel shaking and vehicle distance. One of the features of this service is that it can comprehensively judge the driver's fatigue level while detecting drowsiness. The company started a verification experiment in March 2015 in cooperation with a taxi company in Kawasaki City.

The challenge facing the service is that "many drivers are reluctant to use gel to stick sensors near their hearts" (Toshihide Watanabe, consultant of Toshiba's Information System Technology Division). In the future, the company will also consider non-contact sensors and wristband sensors that can sense pulse and heartbeat through air vibrations in the car.

In addition to products for "professionals" such as bus and taxi drivers, terminals that can be used by general drivers will also be released. JIN, a large eyewear chain, will launch multifunctional eyewear "JINS MEME" in the fall of 2015.

MEME uses the accelerometer built into the eyeglass frame to detect body movements. It can also use the "electrooculographic sensor" installed on the nose pad and between the eyebrows to detect blinking and line of sight movement in real time.

As the term "bleary-eyed" suggests, when a person is sleepy, their eyes will move in a specific way or their blinking frequency will increase. MEME senses these movements and sends data to a smartphone, using its unique system to determine the sleepiness level and then issues a warning through voice or other means.

Fatigue-prevention technology is beneficial to all drivers. Although there are still challenges in terms of accuracy and durability, as long as we stay one step ahead of our competitors, we can expect to reap rich rewards.