A joint endeavour between Ford and a Sao Paulo-based creative agency, GTB, has taken a great leap forward in helping to prevent drivers ‘nodding off’ at the wheel.

They have used brainwave monitoring technology, built into a baseball cap fitted with an array of sensors, an accelerometer and a gyroscope to monitor attentiveness and head movements and identify if a driver is becoming drowsy. If the technology within the hat recognises the driver is dozing or falling asleep, a combination of sound, light and vibration is used to jolt the driver awake. Hopefully, after this wake-up call, the driver will recognise that they are too tired to be behind the wheel and pull over to a halt.

The product is called SafeCap and has been developed in honour of Ford celebrating 60 years of truck production in Brazil and looks to save lives by preventing drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) from falling asleep or into a state of inattentiveness. It comes at a time when falling asleep at the wheel is real concern for truck drivers.

SafeCap has the ability to distinguish between the head movements associated with falling aspeap and those of normal driving such as checking mirrors. 

President of Ford South America, Lyle Watters, described it as: “Another example of our commitment to utilizing technology both in our vehicles and also in broader driving culture to make life easier and safer for our customers.”

Although it’s developed a lot of positive interest, SafeCap will not be commercially available until thorough testing is complete.

Information courtesy of Backhouse Jones.