autoevolution
 

Orwellian Driver Surveillance System Fights Distractions, Kills Privacy

It would appear distracted drivers are the cause of 3,500 fatal crashes each year, and - completely unsurprisingly given the increasing number of things fighting for the driver's attention - the number is on the rise.
Nauto 2 in action 5 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
Nauto 2 on distracted driversNauto 2 on distracted driversNauto 2 on distracted driversNauto
If once it was just the scenery or somebody on the sidewalk catching your attention, these days stimuli are coming from every angle. None more so than the one we hold in our palms even when the hands should be on the steering wheel instead and our eyes on the road.

Some cars have very crude systems that warn drivers when they are supposed to take a break. These, however, are almost completely passive and only rely on the steering inputs pattern, so they can be wrong. For instance, I drove hours on end without the little coffee cup showing up in the instrument cluster, while other times it popped up after only a few minutes. If only the work computer had a similar feature...

Nauto's solution is way more complex than that. It's meant to tackle distractions and uses a somewhat passive-aggressive method to do it. The Palo Alto company (yes, there are others) has devised a system that monitors everything going on inside and outside the vehicle. And we do mean "everything."

It has a set of cameras (both internal- and external-facing), plus telematics and other types of sensors with which it can build a complete picture of the vehicle and its surroundings at any time. What makes Nauto's system special is the distraction detection feature.

Internal cameras monitor the driver's eyes and can detect when they are not keeping them out on the road, where they should be. Using a set of algorithms to filter out any natural behavior, the Nauto 2 (as it's called, since it is the second generation) will tag the moment when something off happens, and also upload the footage for the fleet manager to assess.

Each event gets a certain score depending on its severity, since looking at the phone is more dangerous at highway speeds than when trudging along in a gridlock. The upload happens in real time, so the driver might not even get to finish chewing that peanut he rescued from the footwell before they get a call from the management.

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories