Dr. William Dement, a Stanford professor who teaches a popular course called Sleep & Dreams, is known for the catchphrase, “Drowsiness is red alert.” Falling asleep at the wheel is a leading cause of death in vehicular accidents so making sure drivers stay awake can save lives.
AI chipmaker Ambarella and eye-tracking camera maker Smart Eye spoke to VentureBeat during CES 2019 about their plans for in-cabin technologies focused on safety. Smart Eye announced there that it will be using Ambarella‘s new CV22AQ CVflow computer vision processor in its in-cabin monitoring systems, per the outlet.
Ambarella has made a name for itself for camera sensors and processors and has ambitions to expand to security, surveillance cameras, and automotive cameras. Its new CV22AQ and CV25 chips are designed for use in driver-assistance cameras, electronic mirrors, in-car cameras, and parking assistance technology.
Ambarella has made a name for itself for camera sensors and processors and has ambitions to expand to security, surveillance cameras, and automotive cameras. Its new CV22AQ and CV25 chips are designed for use in driver-assistance cameras, electronic mirrors, in-car cameras, and parking assistance technology.
“We’ve gotten very good feedback on our CVflow computer vision architecture,” Chris Day, chief marketing officer at Ambarella, said to VentureBeat. “We are new in the automotive market, which moves at a slower speed than security and surveillance. We are in evaluation at a lot of different companies.”
Smart Eye’s Driver Monitoring System tracks the eye, mouth, head position and movements of drivers to detect drowsiness.
“We are very pleased to be working with Ambarella to enable advanced AI in the next generation of compact driver and in‐cabin monitoring camera designs,” said Martin Krantz, CEO of Smart Eye, in a statement. “The pairing of Ambarella’s CVflow high‐performance, low power-consumption computer vision processing with Smart Eye’s growing array of high‐accuracy and AI‐based driver monitoring algorithms offers a highly effective, scalable solution for Smart Eye’s OEM and tier‐1 customers.”
“We are seeing significantly increased demand for both driver and in‐cabin monitoring cameras,” said Ambarella CEO Fermi Wang in a statement. “Powered by CV22AQ, this joint platform will allow system designers to fully optimize Smart Eye’s innovative tracking technology in high-performance, low-power system designs.”
VentureBeat adds that Gothenburg, Sweden-based Smart Eye’s roster of more than 700 clients includes the U.S. Air Force, NASA, BMW, Lockheed Martin, Audi, Boeing, Volvo, and GM.
