One of the frequent things you see most drivers do is texting while driving, which is not only annoying but also highly dangerous. There are so many laws, public service announcements, and police initiatives to prevent this potentially risky behavior. However, many of them still do it. Considering the problem of this behavior, researchers from the University of Waterloo, Canada have come up with a solution, a computer algorithm that detects if you’re texting while driving.
AI to rescue
Powered by artificial intelligence, the system uses a camera to detect the hand movement of the chauffeur that deflects from the normal driving behavior towards a possibly distracted behavior. According to Fakhri Karray, a University Research Chair and director of the Centre for Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (CPAMI) at Waterloo, the car could trigger protective measure depending on how serious the distraction is.
“The car could actually take over driving if there was imminent danger, even for a short while, in order to avoid crashes,” said Karray.
Using machine learning technique, the researchers trained the algorithm to recognize any distracting activities such as texting, talking on the phone or reaching into the backseat to bring back something. Based on the duration of those actions and other factors, the seriousness of it will be evaluated. For instance, texting on a busy highway could be measured more dangerous than turning on air conditioning on a quiet country road.
Given that more than 75 percent of traffic accidents have happened worldwide, this technology could bring a major benefit. This technology could be used to trigger some protective measures, starting from warning the driver to temporarily taking over the control. And until this technology is coming to your car, just avoid texting while driving.