Drowsy drivers receive wake up call from NeuroSky

NeuroSky, a company from San Jose who deals with EEG headsets as well as other technologies that turn brain-signal readings into more practical use (as you can see in the image on the right), has come up with a sensor that will alert drivers should they start to nod off while they’re at the wheel – potentially averting the horrendous loss of life. Imagine sensors that are embedded in the driver’s headrest, where these sensors will read the brain’s electrical activity patterns. Should the driver start to fall asleep, an alarm will go off to jolt the driver back to reality – and hopefully, buy enough time to avoid an accident.

I have always wondered about the effectiveness of such a ‘rude awakening’ so to speak – won’t the jolt cause some folks’ hands to react instinctively, where they might just yank the steering wheel in one direction – like towards the opposite lane?

NeuroSky has already talked to three large automakers, where they have delivered said automakers seats and headrests for further testing. Needless to say, such testing needs to be done so that there will be no misinterpretation of signals, and having such a system in place might even cause some people to take the chance to drive when they’re already dog tired – because they have faith that the system would work. But what if it doesn’t?