There are crashes that are caused by a driver who dozes off at the wheel, one whose mind wanders excessively or one who is prone to heart attacks but can only predict having one mere seconds in advance.
For all these and many more similar problems, it seems that one solution for prevention would be fitting the driver’s seat with heart rate sensors which would be able to detect even the smallest oscillation or irregularity and sound the alert – in-built ECG (electrocardiogram).
The project is the collective brainchild of an entire team of researchers at the Nottingham Trent University, which is working with Plessey Semiconductors, a local UK company specializing in capacitive sensors.
The two professors leading the research, Tilak Dias and William Hurley of the faculty’s Advanced Textile Research Group, have set their goal to be the creation of a special fabric that would already integrate the needed sensors, in order not to feel uncomfortable when placed on the seat backs.
It all sounds pretty good and plausible, but we’re waiting for it to go past the drawing board and begin a well-documented prototyping phase to see what exactly it is they can do with this newfangled pulse-sensing fabric…
By Andrei Nedelea
Story References: Gizmag