Iranian researchers at Tabriz University, in northwestern Iran, have designed an alarm for warning against fatigue, drowsiness and distraction of drivers to reduce car accidents. Farzad Hashemzadeh, a faculty member of Electricity Engineering and Computer Faculty of the university, said the aim of the study is to design and build a vision system to alert drivers when they fall asleep. According to Mehr News Agency, a small camera is installed on the vehicle ceiling showing the face of the driver while driving. The system takes 10 pictures from the driver every second and sends the pictures to the processor. The processor, using image algorithms, monitors the wakefulness of the drivers' eyes and in case the eyes are shut for a long period, sounds an alarm and awakens the driver. Results show that the device works successfully for different face and eye shapes, as well as monitoring the eye at night.
