Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) has been selected by the ACT state government in Australia to lead what is being billed as the world’s first automated vehicle trial focused on the driver.
The research project, CAN Drive, will use Seeing Machines' driver monitoring technology to gather data on up to forty drivers in Canberra in ACT (Australian Capital State), who will be monitored while driving level-three automated vehicles for up to two weeks at a time.
Level-three vehicles can largely drive themselves but legally the driver is in control of the car.
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The research will measure how quickly a driver can regain control of the car, when required, by using Seeing Machines software to monitor the driver's facial movements and sound an alert if they need to look at the road and take the wheel again.
The ACT Government has committed A$1.35Mln to the trial, which will start in July with vehicles on the roads in 2018.
Ken Kroeger, Seeing Machines’ executive chairman, said: "This project is designed to deliver key technology outcomes for Seeing Machines and for the global automotive industry in the push towards higher and safer levels of autonomous driving.
“What makes the program special is that it encompasses social research into how the cars of the future will change the way we live.”