Japanese scientists prepare sleep detecting seats

A group of Japanese researches have come up with a car seat that can detect when its occupant is about to fall asleep. Presented during the Geneva Auto Show, the life-saving technology is currently still in prototype form but may eventually appear as mandatory equipment in vehicles, putting an end to accidents involving a driver who has fallen asleep behind the wheel.

The seat contains a number of pressure-sensors able to detect changes in pulse and respiration that occur typically before a person falls asleep. Unlike previous concepts that required the driver to attach a number of electrodes or other hardware to their body, this latest version consists of only a passive sensors built into the seat itself. Researchers claim that the system still works effectively even when the driver is wearing thick layers of clothing.

The developers are yet to install some sort of mechanism to actually wake a driver once asleep, but an alarm system is planned to be tested in the near future, ahead of a planned market launch within five years.