Swiss-based 3D eye-tracking technology company Eyeware has joined forces with Belgium-based semiconductor solutions supplier Melexis to jointly develop an advanced driver monitoring system (DMS). The DMS will use Eyeware’s attention-monitoring technology and Melexis’s MLX75027 3D time-of-flight sensors, to enable eye and head tracking of drivers. 

3D time-of-flight cameras are used to overcome the limitations of infrared-based tracking technology. Eyeware’s algorithms are based on data-driven machine-learning approaches, making it applicable in systems using low power, cost-effective and compact sensors.

Melexis’s MLX75027 3D time-of-flight sensor with VGA resolution employs a high modulation frequency (20-100MHz) to drive the IR illumination.

“Although the resolution of the 3D time-of-flight sensor is lower than current driver monitoring system cameras, the DMS needs just one MLX75027 VGA 3D ToF sensor to track both driver and passenger,” explained Bagnuoli. Kenneth Funes, CEO and co-founder, Eyeware. “We can localise eyes well, even under low-resolution settings or with large head movements.”