Computer vision expert Seeing Machines Ltd. is joining forces with Swedish startup Devant to make driver monitoring systems more efficient with the help of AI and machine learning.
Seeing Machines intends to contribute to improving road safety by developing special eye-tracking technology. To this end, the company plans to draw on Devant’s expertise: Seeing Machines supplies customized driver attention monitoring systems to automotive manufacturers around the world. Training and validating such driver and occupant monitoring systems (DMS/OMS) systems requires large amounts of high-quality data, which Devant will provide.
The collaboration brings together Seeing Machines’ experience and insights into human behavior with Devant’s specialized rendering capabilities. As a result, Seeing Machines believes it is positioned to accelerate the development and training of its machine learning networks that underpin its advanced DMS and OMS solutions.
The move is part of a larger digital engineering initiative on the part of Seeing Machines. It is designed to satisfy the company’s position in the fast-growing market for in-cab monitoring capabilities for drivers and passengers. Urgency is needed as deadlines for new transportation safety regulations approach. The successful incorporation of computer-generated synthetic data follows the research and development of a Seeing Machine realism taxonomy that takes into account all system attributes and confounding factors (i.e., human appearance and behavioral variations, visual, electronic, and vehicle cabin environment) and impacts the realism of the data used to develop, train, and validate AI vision software in the vehicle cabin.
“With a wave of new road safety regulations coming into force around the world, it is becoming increasingly important for the advanced machine learning networks that underpin our AI-driven technology to have access to reliable data of the highest quality, accuracy and realism,” comments Seeing Machines CEO Paul McGlone.
What McGlone values most about the development partner is its ability to capture and translate the subtlest movements and nuances in human behavior. This will provide an unprecedented level of detail, the CEO added. “This approach to data generation will enable our machine learning to cover a broader range of human activity, improving system response times without compromising quality.”
Seeing Machines uses advanced image processing technology to monitor driver behavior in a wide range of challenging lighting conditions, including through sunglasses. This data is processed to interpret the driver’s state of attention, concentration, fatigue and level of impairment, and provide critical information in real time to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and vehicle cockpit, comfort and convenience systems.
Seeing Machines’ growth is currently feeding off the fact that DMS is expected to become mandatory worldwide this decade. Currently, nearly 900,000 vehicles are on the road with Seeing Machines’ safety technology, supported by 15 automotive programs for 10 individual global OEMs. Among Seeing Machines’ customers are leading global automotive OEMs such as Ford, General Motors and Mercedes.
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