South Korean firm Hyundai Mobis has developed technology to detect posture, actions and bio-signals to assess the safety of passengers in the front and rear seats of cars.

The aim is to prevent careless driving behaviour such as drowsy driving and mobile phone use and even check children in the rear are properly secured in their car seats, helping reduce accidents.

This in-cabin monitoring (ICM) system consists of cameras that monitor passengers and software that analyses data. First, the camera installed in the vehicle detects posture and position of passengers and their bio-signals in real time. The software then analyses data from the camera to determine potential risks and alert passengers with audio and visual warnings.

For instance, it can alert the driver when they close their eyes and doze off and suggest they take a break. More than ten scenarios have been developed in which the system can help prevent safety accidents including using mobile phones or smoking while driving, taking hands off the steering wheel, not wearing seatbelts, and leaving young children unattended in the rear seat.

Hyundai Mobis obtained ASpice certification, the European standard for automotive software, through the development of this system, and it has reportedly exceeded the goal set under NCap.

During the development of its ICM system, Hyundai focused on software logic. This year, it plans to enhance healthcare feature for analysis of the driver’s bio-signals and accelerate the development of a version targeting commercial fleet services.

“With the advancement of automatic driving technology, the demand for in-vehicle convenience features and safety technologies is greatly increasing,” said Shin Kyu-chul from Hyundai Mobis. “Hyundai Mobis will focus on developing highly accurate software capable of analysing different physical structures of each passenger.”

Conventional in-cabin sensing has distinguished the driver’s seat and the rear seats; it used different technologies in the driver’s seat for the safety of passengers. However, Hyundai has combined multiple technologies into one system to ensure the safety of all passengers in the vehicle.

In 2019, Hyundai Mobis succeeded in developing technology that tracks the driver’s pupil to prevent drowsy or careless driving. In 2020, it followed up with the development of the rear-seat monitoring system using radar to prevent children from being left unattended in the rear seat. And, in 2022, it developed a driver assistance system that detects the driver’s posture and bio-signals including heart rate.

Hyundai Mobis (www.mobis.com) is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It operates its R&D headquarters in Korea, with technology centres in the USA, Germany, China and India.