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In a new trial taking place across Europe, the eye movements of coach drivers are going to be continually tracked whilst they are working to discover whether, or not, the technology could be installed in all vehicles to prevent fatigue and the possibility of accidents because of it.
An Australian firm who manufacturers the monitoring system has already had five European firms sign up to take part in the trial which consists of specialized cameras being fitted to the interiors of the coaches which track the gaze of the driver.
If they are found to be distracted or taking a micro sleep,( that are measured at less than a second in time)then a motor built into the drivers chair will vibrate as a warning. At the same time, an alarm is activated in the sleeping compartment of the co-driver so they know to take control of driving the vehicle. In the dark, an infrared light is used on the hardware which works even if the driver is wearing glasses, but without hindrance to their vision.
The manufacturers, Seeing Machines, hopes that the risk of an accident will be caught earlier than existing technology, such as steering wheel monitoring sensors or lane detection cameras.