Sleepiness Estimation Method of Driver Considering Stay-Awake Effort

Recently, accidents relating to automobiles have been decreasing due to the development of advanced safety technologies for automobiles and the legal system for dangerous driving. However, the ratio of traffic accidents caused by human errors such as careless and dozing driving in the whole car accidents have been increasing. There has been a requirement for developing sleepiness detection system promptly. In this research, the authors propose a method of estimating driver sleepiness in a car using biological information. The driver while driving is trying to stay awake, fighting against sleepiness that affects the physiological index. By using this index, the authors made sleepiness estimation formula and conducted evaluation experiments. The results show that the sleepiness estimation rate is improved in comparison with a conventional method. It suggests the usefulness of the proposed method.