Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Car Seat Prototype Knows When You Are Sleepy
A prototype "smart car seat" that can tell when you are starting to fall asleep has been developed by researchers from Researchers from the University of Tokyo, Oita University, the Shimane Institute of Health Science and Delta Tooling in Japan.
(Smart car seat)
Based upon data collected from 100 sleepy volunteers, the seat contains pressure sensors in the seat base and seat back monitoring pulse and respiration. The system works even when the driver is wearing bulky clothing.
The next step is to design a system that will respond to its own findings by activating a loud alarm. The researchers hope to make the seat available within five years.
The real question for me is this - will this seat be obsolete when it is commercially available? Cars are getting smarter and smarter; see the previous stories on Honda Accord ADAS and the DARPA Urban Challenge For Autonomous Vehicles.
If vehicles that can handle themselves become available soon enough, a "smart car" will just let you sleep, like the Heinlein Camden Speedster:
The car waited for a break in the traffic, then dived into the high-speed stream and hurried north. Mary settled back for a nap.When its setting was about to run out, the car beeped for instructions; Mary woke up and glanced out...
(Read more about the self-steering Camden Speedster)
Update 05-Mar-2017: Check out this alcohol-sensing system from The Game Players of Titan by Philip K. Dick. End update.
Update 05-Nov-2017: Harry Harrison warned about this; see the vehicle sleep sensor from The Velvet Glove (1956). End update.
Story from Smart car seat detects drowsy drivers.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/5/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Vehicle ")
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...' - Bruce Sterling, 1998.
Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...' - Philip K. Dick, 1963.
Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...' - David H. Keller, 1928.
18 Wheels Mutant Centipede Vehicle
'If a centipede were a dinosaur and made of metal to boot...' - Robert Heinlein, 1950.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'
Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?
Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'
Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'
Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'
Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
