Technology Helps Keep Masked Drivers Safe

Eyesight Technologies adapts its Driver Sense driver monitoring solution’s ability to detect distraction and drowsiness among drivers wearing face masks to protect them from COVID-19.

Driver monitoring systems are designed to monitor facial features of the driver, such as head pose, mouth, eyes and eyelids, and to use the gathered visual data to detect signs of drowsiness and distraction, Tel Aviv, Israel-based Eyesight Technologies says in a news release. A failure to detect may occur if one or more of these features are blocked from the sensor.

Eyesight Technologies’ computer vision and artificial-intelligence algorithms have been trained to detect distraction and drowsiness even when the driver is wearing a mask and glasses (eyeglasses, sunglasses, protective glasses), the company says.

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“As countries around the world fight to contain the global pandemic, essential workers such as truck drivers, municipal workers, bus drivers and warehouse staff continue to support our populations,” Eyesight Technologies says. “With consumers emptying shelves faster than usual, truckers have been working overtime to keep our supply chains flowing.

“With extra hours on the road and increased workload, driver drowsiness is very likely to occur. It takes an average of 525 ft. (160 m) to stop a 40-ton tractor-trailer traveling at 40 mph (64 km/h), and this huge distance highlights the critical need for driver monitoring solutions to ensure that truck drivers are not falling asleep or distracted even for a few seconds,” the company says.

“Added to this, drivers are now wearing facemasks to protect themselves, and the (driver monitoring systems) must be able to keep them safe and recognize warning signs even through such occlusions.”