Using a 2010 Lincoln MKS as a test vehicle, Ford and MIT are setting out to research ways to reduce driver stress to ensure safer driving conditions. They believe that reducing driver stress will in turn increase driver wellness, therefore increasing driver safety too.

 

The research project aims to identify situations that produce driver stress, and then determine in-vehicle advancements that would lower the stress levels that drivers experience in everyday driving.

 

This will be a six month effort, and will help Ford produce safer, more user friendly vehicles.

 

"We strongly believe that driving can be made safer by reducing the stress load placed on a driver," said Jeff Rupp, Ford Manager of Active Safety Research. "Through the use of our existing technologies such as Adaptive Cruise Control with Collision Warning or SYNC, our voice-activated communications system, we are proactively guiding drivers away from difficult situations."

 

"The goal of this program is to take this one step further by creating the most comfortable driving environment possible so that our driver is always relaxed, calm and able to perform at peak performance," added Rupp.

 

Ford has been working with MIT's AgeLab since 2004 to develop systems that recognize driver's stress, and to adjust factors of the car that lower driver stress levels. Researchers at MIT have done this by monitoring driver heart rate, skin conductivity, and eye movement, and then creating embedded systems to detect these biometrics more easily.

 

"Increasing human-vehicle connectivity through biometrics may provide the next major breakthrough in vehicle safety and lead the development of aware vehicle systems," said Bryan Reimer, an MIT AgeLab research scientist working on the project.

 

Researchers at MIT AgeLab released a paper describing ideas on how they might solve several of the stress-creating conditions. That paper can be found here.

 

Safety and security are the two crucial parts that affect driver wellness, and Ford has managed to excel in both of these areas. The automaker has introduced many new technologies into its vehicles addressing these issues, including BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert and many more.

 

"We believe we have the opportunity to recast the driving experience not as a source of stress, but as a refuge from the daily grind and an opportunity to refresh the driver," Rupp said. Ford aims to help the daily driver "recapture the wellness experience that driving once promised."

 

Ford and MIT will speak of their findings when the research project is finished.

 

Source: Ford Media