Magna’s solution is to put the camera into a rearview mirror. The camera and infrared illuminators are embedded behind the glass, with a circuit board containing the necessary electronics for eye tracking. And since the camera is mounted high up in the cabin and has a wide field of view, it could also monitor the other occupants if desired.
Privacy-focused readers should rest easy—this DMS (driver-monitoring system) does not record video, nor can it pass video into anyone’s cloud. All the processing happens in the mirror, with the car just being given alerts if the mirror detects the driver is looking in the wrong area for too long. (In the past, Volvo has told us its DMSes work in a similar fashion.)
Magna has signed its first customer for the DMS mirror, but until that OEM makes the relationship public, all Magna can tell us is that it’s a German automaker. Expect to see the first models sporting this mirror on the road in Europe early next year, then here in the US by fall 2024.
I’m a great fan of biohacking stats, so I’d be really interested in seeing my “alertness index” over time (if such a thing were to be available).