Smart cars can read road signs

A new electronic driver’s assistant system (DAS) developed at the National Information and Communications Technology Australia lab in Canberra is able to detect road signs and warn drivers not to ignore them.

The system relies on three cameras: the first is mounted on the rear view mirror and scans the road ahead; the others are on either side of the instrument panel on the dashboard to monitor where the driver is looking.

Images are fed to a computer system behind the dashboard.

The software scans the video pictures, recognizes the shapes of the road and compares the image to signs stored in the memory. Once a stop sign is identified, the computer checks if the car is slowing down.

If the driver appears not to have seen a sign (via the “gaze monitoring” cams), and the car’s speed does not change, an alert is issued.

Will the system pass the driving licence exam for me? Will it?

Via New Scientist.