Driver Attentiveness Monitoring Using Camera and Audio Cues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing driver monitoring systems struggle to accurately determine a driver's attentiveness in low-light environments, relying solely on optical sensors which are ineffective in such conditions.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize both visual and auditory attentiveness monitoring, employing a camera to capture images of the driver's head and a microphone to capture sounds inside the vehicle, with neural networks analyzing facial features, pupil vectors, and sound spectrograms to assess attentiveness and provide reminders through visual and auditory cues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If optical sensors are used for driver monitoring, then the system can detect visual attentiveness in normal lighting conditions, but the system fails to accurately determine attentiveness in low-light environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the monitoring function into two distinct sensor systems: optical sensors for visual attentiveness monitoring and acoustic sensors for auditory attentiveness monitoring. This segmentation allows each sensor type to operate in its optimal environment, with acoustic sensors compensating for optical sensor failures in low-light conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the monitoring parameter from purely visual (optical) to include auditory parameters (acoustic) when lighting conditions deteriorate. By switching to acoustic-based attentiveness assessment, the system maintains reliability across varying environmental conditions
2Reliability
If multiple sensor types are integrated for multi-condition monitoring, then the system can maintain attentiveness detection accuracy in various environments, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal monitoring system where acoustic sensors serve dual purposes: monitoring auditory attentiveness and compensating for optical sensor failures in low-light conditions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for specialized sensors for each condition, thereby controlling complexity while maintaining reliability
3Measurement precision
If comprehensive attentiveness analysis is performed using multiple parameters, then the system can provide accurate monitoring, but the computing resources and time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the monitoring strategy based on environmental conditions. In normal lighting, only optical monitoring is performed. In low-light conditions, the system switches to acoustic monitoring, avoiding the computational burden of simultaneously processing both sensor types while maintaining measurement accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides a method for determining visual and auditory attentiveness of vehicle driver, which comprises: determining a visual attentiveness of a driver according to an image captured by a camera installed inside the vehicle; determining a recognition attentiveness of the driver according to sounds obtained by a microphone installed inside the vehicle; deciding whether to issue a reminder to the driver based on the visual attentiveness and the recognition attentiveness of the driver; when it is necessary to remind the driver after determining the driver's visual and recognition attentiveness, one or a combination of reminder steps will be executed; the reminder steps comprising: issuing a visual reminder by a display device in the vehicle; and issuing a auditory reminder by a speaker in the vehicle.