(30 Dec 03)

Over in Detroit, Ford has selected, from a larger group of volunteers, a couple of dozen who fancy spending part of the New Year holidays falling asleep at the wheel. This sounds like a completely lunatic idea, until you realise it’s all part of the latest programme for the VIRTTEX (Virtual Test Track Experiment) driving simulator.

It’s estimated that drowsiness at the wheel is the cause of more than 100,000 crashes and 1500 fatalities every year in the States, and it’s clear that this is also a big problem in the UK and Europe.

Until a few weeks ago, the car selected for the simulator programme was a Ford Taurus. Now it’s a Volvo S80, with a high-resolution console-mounted camera monitoring all the driver’s eye movements and able to calculate from the comparison of eyes-open with eyes-closed time whether doze-off is approaching.

The 24 drivers range in age from 21 to 70. They have to stay up all night before the day of the test, and agree not to take any caffeine after 6pm on the preceding evening. As well as that, they’ll all be given a watchstrap sensor to make sure they don’t catnap on the day before the test.

Starting at 6am, the test itself involves "driving" the S80 simulator for up to three hours on a simulated darkened country road.

Once the research is complete, various "you’re falling asleep" warnings will be developed, and eventually put into production.

Jeff Greenberg, manager of the VIRTTEX lab, says: "Our intent is to make sure this system, when developed, works right. There is nothing more annoying to a driver than false signals - false beeps, buzzes and vibration - when the driver is not falling asleep. False signals could nag the driver to the point where he or she just turns it off. And a system that is turned off is not serving any purpose whatsoever."

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