Conti System “Sees” Where Driver is Looking

Continental AG is developing an advanced forward collision warning system that uses a camera system to read where a driver is looking and provides visual cues to steer attention back to the road.

The windshield-mounted camera system identifies facial features to determine whether the driver is looking forward or to the left or right. Using that information, the system illuminates warning lights in the door panels, upper dashboard or rear headliner to alert the driver of an impending crash.

The warning lights appear as "comets" flashing from back to front along the upper door panel to direct the driver's eyes back to the road in front of the car. If the driver is looking forward already, the illumination flashes across the front of the dash below the windshield.

If a likely collision is detected but not imminent, white light will flash; red flashes mean a crash is likely unless the driver responds immediately.

Continental chose the two levels of warning to prevent constant red alerts in lower-risk conditions, such as when the driver is looking forward but hasn't hit the brake pedal yet.

Continental already supplies systems or parts of systems for collision mitigation, active cruise control and lane keeping assistance to a number of automakers, including BMW AG and Daimler AG.