It might sound like science fiction, but new research suggests that smartwatches are earning their place amongst today’s top accident avoidance systems. As connectivity features increase, drivers of new vehicles are privy to a suite of luxury and safety features that usher in the future. So, where does a smartwatch fit in?
Driver Assistance
Advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS for short, are the way of the future. These unique technologies incorporate radar and video cameras that allows cars to brake and steer to avoid accidents. Even in their simplest forms, they offer audio and visual alerts that quickly grab a driver’s attention.
While the technology is amazing, it comes with one major flaw. Drivers begin to get annoyed with their chimes and blinking lights, leading them to turn these features off or simply ignore them. It’s a phenomenon called alert fatigue.
At the same time, these alert systems serve as a distraction in critical moments. If the person behind the wheel is already aware of the impending accident, a constant beeping can cause knee-jerk reaction that could lead to a more serious accident.
It might not sound like a big deal, but personal injury attorneys that handle car accidents are already seeing instances where the features meant to keep drivers safe have led to an even worse situation for all parties involved.
A Possible Solution
With this issue identified, the challenge becomes eliminating this hazard without sacrificing the safety benefits. Researchers believe that the solution lies in a combination of cameras and smartwatches. The goal is to have cars recognize when the driver is already aware of an impending accident.
By placing cameras on the dashboard, your vehicle’s safety systems can identify changes in eye position and posture that signify a “panic mode.” Add in a smartwatch connected to the vehicle and tightening of the muscles as well as increased heart rate are easily identified as well.
These new systems would be a combination of psychology, biology, and technology working together in perfect unison. Together, these features can accurately determine the human response to panic as well as how it might vary from one person to the next.
Creating the Future
The trick behind incorporating a smartwatch is connectivity and an app. Cars are already equipped to connect your smart devices and offer a wide array of features, but nothing quite like this. As for the watches themselves, measuring heartrate already exits. Recognizing muscle tension, on the other hand, would be a new technology.
The cameras in the dashboard are simple cameras combined with already existing technology, such as facial recognition in the form of recognizing expressions used in Apple’s live emojis. Detecting eye movement is nothing new, either.
Bowling law personal injury attorneys are excited by the capabilities this new tech could hold for cases and clients. With new evidence, they could better determine liability in court. This technology is still a ways off, but it may just hold a safer future for every driver in the world.
