An EPFL student has developed a video analysis algorithm able to estimate the level of a driver's fatigue based on the

degree of eyelid closure. PSA Peugeot Citron a pro!ect partner has built a prototype in order to test it in real driving conditions. "early a third of high#ay accidents are caused by fatigue. "o#adays there e$ist several attention detection systems for drivers e.g.% based on the loss of vehicle control. &arina 'immermann as part of her master thesis in electrical and electronic engineering and in partnership #ith PSA Peugeot Citron has focused directly on drivers and their state of #a(efulness. She developed an algorithm able to measure the degree of eyelid closure by using a single camera and thus avoiding invasive methods. )ne of the indicators most fre*uently used to determine the state of a driver's fatigue is +PE,CL)S+ -percentage of eye closure.. /t measures the percentage of time that the pupil is at least 012 covered by the eyelid during a predetermined timespan. 3he challenge #as to measure this indicator in real time (eeping the drivers' eyes on the vie#finder and bearing in mind that they can turn their head #ear glasses drive during the night cross through tunnels etc. 3he Signal Processing Laboratory 4 -L3S4. at EPFL is speciali5ed in face recognition monitoring and analysis techni*ues and has man6machine interfaces capable of (eeping trac( of a driver's face in real time. 3his is achieved by placing a small infrared camera behind the #heel. /n order to carry out the pro!ect 6initiated by the 3ransportation Center and carried out at L3S46 &arina 'immermann developed an eye6analy5ing module by creating an algorithm able to disregard possible light effects as #ell as the drivers' different eye morphologies. She then established a 78 profiling of the eye and eyelids so as to distinguish an open one eye from a closed one. Lastly she had to optimi5e her methodology to ma(e it possible for it to run in on6 board vehicle computers #ith limited computing po#er in real6time conditions.

78 representation of an opened and closed eye 6 the detector is able to interprete them Industrialization potential 3he first tests carried out under real conditions sho#ed good reliability. 9o#ever the system remains highly dependent on the frame rate as unconscious blin(s of the eye occur #ithin :11 to

:41 milliseconds. +3he proposed algorithm is sufficiently robust and simple to run on a standard camera. /t #ill be able to combine the degree of eyelid6opening information together #ith other data 6 li(e ya#ning or head tilt6 provided by the already e$isting face trac(ing system +said ;ean6Philippe 3hiran head of L3S4 and supervisor of the student's master pro!ect. As it stands the pro!ect's industriali5ation potential has already caught the eye of PSA Peugeot Citron pro!ect partner #hich #ill integrate the device into a first stage test vehicle for evaluating its performance in real conditions.

-Phys.org.<For those familiar #ith its language the face reflects much about an individual's identity and emotional state. EPFL scientists are developing a tool that #ill be able to use facial information to ma(e the cars of the future safer and more comfortable. 3oday's +intelligent+ cars e*uipped #ith multiple sensors and algorithms can react to emergency situations regulate speed assist #ith par(ing and respond to voice commands. =ut they don't (no# #ho's at the #heel or ho# that driver is feeling. 3he face is a valuable source of this information and a pro!ect initiated by EPFL's 3ransportation Center involving EPFL's Signal Processing 4 Laboratory -"3S4. and PSA Peugeot Citron aims to mine it for use in the automobiles of the future. Face6related technologies have progressed rapidly in recent years and are used in many areas. Facial recognition is used in real time to relay the e$act position of an individual and eye6 trac(ing devices indicate the direction in #hich he or she is loo(ing. Analy5ing the movements of the head and eyes can also indicate a state of fatigue or sleepiness. EPFL's L3S4 and its start6 up n>iso are conducting research into capturing facial e$pressions and e$ploring the #ide range of possible scientific behavioral and commercial applications that the technology offers. Technological challenges 3he scientists had to tac(le the challenge of adapting the technology for use in cars. +)ur goal is to build the technological base to detect and situate a driver's face at any moment in time + e$plains "3S4 director ;ean6Philippe 3hiran. +?sing this tool it #ill then be possible to build and test various driver assistance applications such as eye trac(ing fatigue detection lip reading and so on.+ +@ith this study #e are trying to ma(e the interface bet#een the car and the driver more intuitiveA reading intentions from facial features is a very natural interactive mode + adds )livier Pa!ot PSA Peugeot Citron's representative on the EPFL campus. 3he instrument developed using a prototyping platform provided by the French car manufacturer is currently operational although the research is still far from finished. >ehicles impose a number of specific limitations beginning #ith the *uestion of #here to place the

camera. /t cannot obstruct the driver's field of vision. +)ne of the possible options is to place it behind the steering #heel #hich #ould re*uire a system that's *uic( enough to recapture the face detection after the arms of the steering #heel interrupt it + e$plains 3hiran. Another issue is adapting to changing lighting conditions in order to trac( the driver's face as the car goes into a tunnel for e$ample or #hen driving into a setting sun. And finally the tool must perform as #ell #hen the driver is facing it as #hen she turns her head to the side. Improving performance +@e are currently #or(ing on improving the system's performance particularly by increasing the number of images processed + continues 3hiran. +3he ne$t step is to test it in realistic conditions. PSA Peugeot Citron #ill install the platform on a car and our lab #ill test the system under various application scenarios.+ PSA Peugeot Citron opened an office in EPFL's /nnovation S*uare in summer B1:: #ith the goal of collaborating on research and innovation pro!ects. Spearheaded by EPFL's 3ransportation Center other pro!ects #ith EPFL laboratories have been launched including energy systems driver assistance systems human6machine interfaces and predictions for the structure of the automotive mar(et.
The propose system based on eyes closer count & yawning count of the driver. By monitoring the eyes and mouth, it is believed that the symptoms of driver fatigue can be detected early enough to avoid a car accident. The eye blink frequency increases beyond the normal rate in the fatigued state.