Your Volvo Will Soon Understand and Step In If You Need Support

While most manufacturers are striving to make their cars safer to obtain high star NCAP, the folks at Volvo are looking beyond that. They are starting to tap into some of the core reasons of mishaps such as distraction, stress, drowsiness or being in another state of mind. Volvo terms this as “people not at their best, hence they may need help”.

All this starts with the all new Volvo EX90 which will be revealed on the 9th of November 2022. Basically, Volvo will deploy a real-time interior sensing system guided based on a straight and straight forward concept by utilising state-of-the-art exterior sensors.

According to Emma Tivesten, Senior Technical Expert, Volvo Cars Safety Center, Volvo’s research indicates that by simply observing where the driver is looking and how often and for how long their eyes are closed, they are able to understand the state the driver is in.

Two cameras are used to pick-up early signs that indicate when the driver is not at their best based on the driver's eye movement pattern. This coupled with time focused on the road ahead and allowance for natural variations can enable the system to understand drivers' level of focus. 

If the system registers that the driver is not focusing on the drive, it's a clear sign that he/she is distracted by preoccupied thoughts hence losing focus on the driving. This, coupled with the EX90’s capacitive steering wheel which senses the driver's steering input would be able to determine if the system needs to step in.

The EX90’s would intervene in stages beginning with simple warning audible signals that increase in volume based on the seriousness of the situation, failing which the system would have the ability to safely manoeuvre and stop the vehicle by the road side while signalling other road users of hazard presence ahead. 

Thomas Broberg, Acting Head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre goes on to add, “We’ve made great progress on exterior sensing in the last decades, thanks to our committed work on crash prevention systems,” and “Interior sensing is one of the next safety frontiers for us. We will continue to learn, develop and deploy new features step by step to help improve safety as our knowledge increases and matures.”