By Ian Rush
While flipping through my Flipboard application on my iPad, I discovered this article published by the Smartphone Sensing Group about a revolutionary application called CarSafe. CarSafe is essentially designed to enable safe driving.
The app features a front camera that picks up on bodily movements by focusing in on the face, more specifically the eyes and nose. This app can detect whether or not the driver is fatigued just by picking up on information from a blink of the eye. If a potentially dangerous situation arises, a coffee icon along with some sort of audible alert will appear on the screen making the application very interactive and intuitive.
I’ve read there’s also a back camera which detects any environmental hazards such as lane spacing/changing or any behavioral situations. A red hazardous sign will also appear on the screen if things become risky.
There wasn’t much mentioned about which phones will support this application, but my guess is it will begin to get some publicity soon given how interactive it is. Often, we hear and see many car accidents and the researchers from Dartmouth who developed the technology for this app are taking steps in making drivers more alert and on top of their game.