Vision in and out of vehicles: Integrated driver and road scene monitoring

One of the more startling effects of road related accidents is the economic and social burden that they cause. In OECD countries (the 23 leading economically developed countries of the world) over 150,000 people are killed every year (44,000+ in the USA, 38,000+ in Europe and 11,000+ in Japan) at an estimated cost of US$ 500 billion. One way of combating this problem is to develop intelligent vehicles that are self-aware and act to increase the safety of the transportation system. In this paper we present preliminary results of an Intelligent Transport System project that has fused visual lane tracking and driver monitoring technologies in the first step towards closing the loop between vision inside and outside the vehicle. Experimental results of a novel 15 Hz visual lane tracking system will be discussed, focusing on the particle filter and cue fusion technology used. The results from the integration of the lane tracker and the driver monitoring system are presented with an analysis of the driver's visual behavior in several different scenarios.