Research Aspects - Driver Drowsiness Detection: Systems and Solutions - page 33

Fig. 4.6 National Advanced Driving Simulator

the visual display and a video game-type steering wheel and pedal input devices.
These low cost simulators are used readily in the evaluation of basic and clinically
oriented scientific questions [ 5 , 12 , 20 , 21 ].
Some research teams are using automated vehicles to recreate simulator studies
on a test track, enabling a more direct comparison between the simulator study and
therealworld[ 17 ]. One important limitation of using driving simulators also is
that the drivers do not perceive any risk. The awareness of being immersed in a
simulated environment might give a behavior which is different than that on an
actual road [ 2 ]. However, the consensus among researchers is that driving simulators
can create driving environments that are sufficiently similar to road experiments.

4.4.2 Performance Requirements

A successful DDD system must be fast, robust, reliable, nonintrusive and proactive.
The ultimate goal of such systems is to work in a real world, which means that
the system should reach conclusive decisions about the state of the driver (and the
need to issue an alert) in a timely manner. Failure to respond within a reasonable
amount of time (a few seconds) may turn out to be catastrophic and opposite to
the original goal of having these systems in the first place. Real-time performance is
desired, but it might come at the cost of increased computing power, which would
also increase battery consumption and the cost of the overall solution accordingly.
A DDD system has to be robust and should perform under various conditions,
including severe weather, large variations in overall lighting, bumpy roads (and
their impact on the quality of the acquired video frames), and noise, to mention
but a few. Once again, there will be a point beyond which a system will ultimately
stop working properly. The challenge is to bring this point as far away as possible
from normal operating conditions, without sacrificing any other major aspect of the