Ferrari working on mind-reading technology that will adjust stability, traction control accordingly
Safety sells. And safety is one of those aspects of the automobile industry that will continue to progress to make traveling safer considering how imperative the automobile is to the daily lives of millions, if not billions of people. That said, you usually hear about new safety innovations from manufacturers such as Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. But Ferrari? Usually never because, well, who really puts safety as their priority when someone is shelling out more than $100k for a fire-breathing, gut-wrenching, face-ripping supercar. Interestingly enough, AutoCar UK reports of a new in-car technology that they are developing that will monitor a driver’s mental and physical state and adjust the car’s driver aids accordingly.
Mercedes-Benz already took a slight step towards active driver aids that are dependent on the driver’s mental and physical state with their fatigued-driver warning system. But it’s only a nanny that will vibrate the seat and display a warning if the car thinks you are too tired to drive. So Ferrari plans to take it to the next level.
The system is described as a collection of non-invasive biometric and psychometric sensors that collect data on the driver: “The biometric sensors may comprise a piezoelectric measuring device for measuring the driver’s respiration, a device for measuring the driver’s blood pressure and heart rate, a television camera for monitoring the driver’s eyes (blink rate) to determine the driver’s alertness, a device for monitoring the electric activity of the driver’s brain, a device for recording the driver’s surface temperature and a device for recording the conductivity of the driver’s skin (to determine the degree of perspiration).”
Its purpose is to improve driver safety but Ferrari also says that it could be used to sharpen a car’s dynamics to better satisfy a more alert driver. Development of such active safety technology will definitely be something interesting to follow as time carries on.
– By: Chris Chin
Source: AutoCar
