System and method to monitor and alert vehicle operator of impairment

摘要

The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring a vehicle operator during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is impaired (e.g., distracted, drowsy, intoxicated) and alerting the vehicle operator using a haptic alert delivered by a wearable computing device worn by the vehicle operator when impairment is detected. The method, system, and computer-readable medium may monitor the vehicle operator, the environment surrounding the vehicle, and/or forces acting on the vehicle using a variety of sensors, including optical sensors or accelerometers. In particular, optical sensors may monitor the vehicle operator to detect eye blinks, head nods, head rotations, and/or gaze fixation. Optical sensors may also monitor the road ahead of the vehicle to detect lane deviation, lane centering, and time to collision. Accelerometers may detect acceleration in the direction of vehicle travel and/or lateral acceleration.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for alerting a vehicle operator of operator impairment comprising:
receiving sensor data regarding the potential impairment of the vehicle operator from one or more sensors; determining, using one or more processors, whether the sensor data indicates the vehicle operator is impaired by (i) calculating a plurality of impairment indicator scores using the received sensor data, (ii) calculating an impairment score associated with a type of impairment based upon the plurality of impairment indicator scores, and (iii) comparing the impairment score to a threshold value to determine whether the vehicle operator is impaired; selecting, using one or more processors, one or more impairment alerts from a database of potential responses based on the sensor data when the vehicle operator is determined to be impaired, wherein selecting the one or more impairment alerts includes selecting a haptic alert from a plurality of haptic alerts from the database of potential responses; and presenting the one or more selected impairment alerts to the vehicle operator, wherein the haptic alert is presented using a wearable computing device worn by the vehicle operator and wherein presenting the one or more impairment alerts include automatically preventing presentation of a subsequent alert within a predetermined reset period following presentation of the one or more impairment alerts.