It’s been a long day at work, but you’re finally on your way home. After the first 15 minutes or so, you notice your vision start to blur, and your head begins to involuntarily drop. You feel tired, sluggish, and unable to focus. Your tendency to become frustrated increases. You’re without a doubt a danger behind the wheel, but you haven’t had a drop to drink. You’re not intoxicated; you’re just tired.
In many ways, operating a vehicle while fatigued is just as treacherous as driving drunk, and yet the car industry has yet to embrace viable solutions to curb that type of behavior. At CES 2016, car electronics firm Harman introduced a new technology that may be able to help.
The brand’s proprietary driver monitoring system is one the company calls an industry first, because unlike products that measure brainwaves or heartbeats to detect drowsiness, Harman’s tech constantly tracks the driver’s pupil dilation to monitor their cognitive workload, mental multitasking, and energy level. Based around a small camera, the device eliminates the need for complex biometric sensors built into the steering wheel or seats, and can even communicate with the vehicle’s other safety systems to adapt to the driver’s state.
“Safety on the road is more important than ever as more vehicles become connected,” said Alon Atsmon, VP of technology strategy at Harman. “Harman is advancing the state of the art for solutions that balance drivers’ desire to stay connected in the car without a compromise to their safety and security. Our priority is to arm OEMs with a holistic range of integrated technologies that address both driver wants and needs, and the Harman eye and pupil tracking technology is another advanced step toward a more intelligent driving experience.”
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.