Western Australia has unveiled the world's first Attention-Powered Car. The car is designed to automatically slow down when a driver becomes distracted. The car was created thanks to a partnership with Hyundai (its i40 is the car used), Emotiv (it provided the tech) and RAC (an Australian insurance company).
Emotiv provided the EEG headset and software used to track attentiveness. The headset can detect the electrical activity in your brain and monitors whether or not you're paying attention and when you're zoning out or fatigued. Should the headset detect a loss in attention, power is taken away from the accelerator. The Attention-Powered Car is a design study on distracted driving at the moment, but future autos may very well have sensors like these to detect when drivers need to refocus.
Distraction-Detecting Autos
The Attention-Powered Car Slows Down When You Lose Focus
Trend Themes
1. Attention Tracking - Opportunity for developing advanced attention tracking technology in automotive industry.
2. Distracted Driving Prevention - Disruptive innovation opportunity to create safety features that automatically slow down vehicles when drivers are distracted.
3. Brain-computer Interface - Potential for integrating brain-computer interface technology into vehicles to enhance driver attentiveness and safety.
Industry Implications
1. Automotive - Automotive industry can leverage attention-tracking technology to develop safer and smarter vehicles.
2. Insurance - Opportunity for the insurance industry to offer discounts or incentives for vehicles equipped with distraction-detecting technology.
3. Technology - Emerging market for brain-computer interface technology in various industries, including automotive.