Distracted driving is a big concern in the auto industry and Toyota stands out for its consistent efforts to develop technologies that keep drivers safe. Along with current sensor- and camera-based safety technologies available on its 2015 lineup, the automaker recently patented a feature that monitors drivers’ eyes and one day it could be used to ensure that drivers are paying attention to the road.
Toyota is currently working on enhancing the technology, which detects the upper and lower eyelids and assesses how open they are. While similar technologies do exist, they haven’t been implemented in the auto industry and sources say that they often give false results because of the occurrence of redeye, which obscures the eyeball. Toyota aims to make improvements on eye-tracking technology, adding a function that searches for redeye so it can detect eye location and movement more accurately.
Today, distracted driving is a top cause of accidents and Toyota is on a mission to prevent it. With a technology that can detect when the eyes close or when a driver takes his or her eyes off the road for an extended period of time, distracted driving would be significantly minimized. Toyota hasn’t said what its plans are for the newly patented tech, but the future of its car safety features looks bright and we’re guessing consumers can expect some type of eye-tracking technology to be introduced to the Toyota lineup one day.
