This guest contribution to Automoblog is courtesy of Paul Zubrinich, Chief Marketing Officer for Optalert, an Australian company that specializes in detecting drowsiness and other cognitive states in eyelid movements. In addition to supporting automakers as they improve their drowsiness detection systems in new vehicles, Optalert discovered the first non-invasive method to screen for obstructive sleep apnoea while the test subject is awake and is making progress in early screening of Alzheimer?s, Parkinson?s, and other neurodegenerative conditions.

If you?re in the market for a new car, you have likely heard about driver monitoring systems (DMS). A DMS uses sensors and software to monitor the driver?s behavior and condition, helping to improve safety and performance. Some of these features are mature and reliable, while others are quite hit-and-miss.
Why Do Vehicles Have a DMS"

There are three broad drivers pushing driver monitoring systems into the market:

First, new regulation, especially in Europe, has mandated that cars must detect inattention, drowsiness, and other forms of driver impairment. There are also talks at the federal level in the United States of regulation around intoxication detection. It appears to be a growing frontier in safety regulation in automotive.

Second, autonomous vehicles are encountering numerous technical challenges and will likely take a lot longer to get right than many technology optimists initially predicted. As cars c...