Infrared-Based In-Vehicle Head-Tracking

In the future, assistance systems in vehicles will use data containing live 3D positions of the driver's head and eyes in order to display information in a contact analog way. This should help increasing the driver's (and other traffic participants’) safety and comfort. For this a study with 15 participants was launched to examine typical head movements of the driver while driving, showing only slight longitudinal and transversal movements of the head. Based on these results a head tracking method was developed, implying 2D to 3D conversion while using only one thermographic camera. Reducing the system to one camera cuts the expenses significantly, inducing however, small deviations in the 3D detection. Thermal image processing allows the images to be treated independently of external light conditions, which makes the system reliable and suitable for nighttime driving.