Abarth Trial Facial Recognition Technology To Monitor Drivers

Performance car brand, Abarth, is the first to use facial recognition technology in order to better comprehend the emotions felt while operating its vehicle.

Abarth conducted the study in collaboration with the renowned Loughborough University to learn more about the differences in emotions felt by the driver and passenger.

At Mallory Park in Leicestershire, participants were put through driving difficulties like as hot laps, precision driving duties, and chase situations while operating an Abarth F595, 595 Esseesse, or 595 Competizione. Then, while passengers were driven by experienced drivers, emotions like enjoyment, excitement, and terror were measured.

Happiness was shown to be the most common emotion experienced during a hot lap, both for drivers (31.8%) and passengers (35.4%).

Participants had brief episodes of anxiety and shock (11.9%) when driven by skilled drivers who drove the automobile to its limit, adding to the thrilling track day experience.

Modern facial recognition technology was combined with photoplethysmography (PPG)* and electrocardiogram (ECG) heart rate sensors to accurately identify a range of emotions in people.

The DeepFace Python library and the Facial Emotion Recognition module were then used to analyse the data.

This allowed the Italian car manufacturer to accurately detect an array of emotions among individuals.