The Linkage Project is a collaboration under The Australian National University and the Australian Research Council.

Towards in-vehicle situation awareness using visual and audio sensors, the formal name of the project, will run for four years. It brings together experts professor Stephen Gould and Dr Liang Zheng from ANU, Seeing Machines Dr Akshay Asthana, Professor Mike Lenné and co-founder Dr Sebastien Rougeaux.

The grant will support three ANU PhD students and one research fellow to use advanced, artificial intelligence methods to infer and predict dangerous driver and passenger behaviour.

According to the Australian Automobile Association’s study Cost of Road Trauma in Australia, road accidents in the country cost an estimated $30 billion.

Many of these accidents were due to, and continue to be, human error, including driver fatigue and distraction.

As automotive technology continues to develop and semi- and autonomous driving features are introduced into vehicles, the ability to understand how and when humans become drowsy or distracted and using technology to actively mitigate the risks associated with these behaviours, will benefit society through enhanced safety.

“Research and development is fundamental to the ongoing innovation of our driver and operator monitoring system technology solution,” says Lenné.

“Being at the forefront of driver and occupant technology and having unrivalled understanding of human behaviour and access to the data behind that, is key to our ongoing success. Programs such as this grant help Seeing Machines maintain our leadership position and most importantly, ensure our customers can deliver leading features in their vehicles and get people home safely.”