Sleepy while Driving? Here is a Smart Seat belt which warns you!

Are you a person who often drives and gets sleepy while driving? Here is a new technology which will prevent sleepy drivers from dozing off when driving. Harken has come up with a new seat belt which monitors the heart rate and will notify the drivers if they gets sleepy while driving. It is estimated that more than 100,000 fatigue-related crashes take place in the EU alone every year and these seat belts could be useful in saving such crashes.

The unit consists of sensors embedded in the driver’s seat cover and seat belt that monitor breathing rates and heartbeat to determine whether the driver of the car is falling asleep. If that happens, the system communicates with a processing unit that then alerts the driver to pull over and get a break before driving again.

The objective of Harken project is to measure both variables in a nonintrusive manner in a environment of vibrations and user movements, by means of smart materials embedded in the seat cover and the safety belt of the car.

Here is a video on Harken.

The work is coordinated by EU-funded consortium and is progressing well and prototypes are ready. The next phase would be real time testing of these units. We are hoping this comes to reality and will be available in future cars across the globe.