Autism Glass Takes Top Student Health Tech Prize [Slide Show]

A Stanford grad student’s invention uses Google Glass to help autistic children recognize facial and social cues in real time

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.scientificamerican.com

This is a great example of the evolution of complementary technologies that spill into unexpected areas. The chat about Google Glass has gone quiet among the masses who quickly moved on to buying Fitbits. Meanwhile others have continued to explore the potential to put glass to good use.

Whilst the story is about helping autistic people interpret emotions, the developer, now 20, when he was 17, created the foundation for Sension http://www.sension.co/ which interprets the degree of engagement of people.

This IP was sold to Japanese company GAIA who have been involved in the social challenges of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for some time. One of the areas they are using this technology in is using glass technology to identify whether a driver is alert or perhaps nodding off behind the wheel.

Fatigue is a major cause of crashes and many companies are looking at developing solutions in this space. For example:

-The CDC has a prototype system that monitors facial expressions to see if you are dozing off behind the wheel bit.ly/21XwXvC. It sets off a sound alarm as well as activates your hazard lights to warn other drivers that you may have a problem.

-Plessey Semiconductor is working on a solution called EPIC or Electrical Potential Integrated Circuit which can monitor your heart rate through technology in the drivers seat, through many layers of clothing. They are developing this with researchers at Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

-Nissan is racing ahead in the production race. Their 2016 Maxima Sport will have a system which learns your  steering style on the wheel and will alert you if your driving behaviour changes or if it notices that you appear to not be controlling the steering wheel. It will beep, let you know how long you have been driving and ask you if you might be ready for a coffee through the console display. http://on.mash.to/27erSTN

These are just a few examples. Marques like Mercedes and BMW have been working on this technology for several years, but typically in top of the line models.

Given that Nissan is able to put a system into a standard 2016 vehicle retailing at $36,000 you would think that it would now be possible to also install something into commercial vehicles, especially long distance trucks where drivers may be behind the wheel for up to 11 hours on a shift.

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