- Optalert
-
Optalert is an Australian business founded by sleep expert Dr Murray Johns[1] who invented a personal safety device for transport workers to detect and prevent drowsy driving.
Contents
Drowsy driving
Drowsy driving is a factor in one in every six road accidents in Australia and one in three heavy vehicle accidents. The annual financial toll is estimated to be at least $2 billion in health and insurance costs in Australia and $56 billion in the U.S.[2] A 2001 survey by the Australian National Transport Commission found that at least 45 per cent of heavy vehicle drivers were impaired by fatigue during their last shift.[3] It found 52 per cent of major crash insurance claims were fatigue related. The survey also revealed 50 per cent of all long distance truck drivers had nodded off while driving more than once. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America poll, 60% of adult drivers have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third have actually fallen asleep at the wheel.[4]
Fatigue monitoring systems
A number of vehicle manufactures are working on developing similar systems including Toyota, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. Optalert's system uses infra-red light to measures a driver’s levels of alertness continuously and objectively in real time. It is the first validated system that provides early warning signs of drowsiness.[5] It includes a pair of glasses connected to a small computer processor in the vehicle. The glasses emit and detect low levels of infrared light to sense movements in the eyes and eyelids[6]. These movements are fed into a computer that measures a driver's drowsiness and sounds an alarm as soon as the movements show the driver is becoming drowsy.
Scientific validation
Optalert has been scientificly validated by Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) to prove its accuracy and reliability.[7] Universities in Sweden and Professor Charles Czeisler from Harvard University Medical School are also running studies to validate the technology.[8]
Use
Optalert supplies transport and mining companies in Asia, Africa, South America and Australia including BHP Billiton, Toll Holdings, BIS Industries, Oz Minerals, WestNet Energy and Sutherland’s Transport.[9]
Optalert Reports
The company recently launched a new service called Optalert Reports. It takes information from an onboard computer connected to a driver’s glasses to create an activity summary and travel log over a period of days or months. It can be used to identify potential risks and plan safe work schedules.[10]
Awards
Optalert won an Australian Design Mark in the 2007 Australian Design Award[11] It won the 2008 Victorian AIIA award for Industrial Applications. It was a finalist in the 4th Annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards.[12]
Optalert also received a Bronze in the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA's) International Design Excellence Awards '07.[13] and was nominated in the INDEX: AWARD, 2007.
References
- ^ http://www.mwjohns.com/
- ^ http://www.sleepoz.org.au/files/fact_sheets/AT08%20-%20Shift%20Work.pdf
- ^ http://www.ntc.gov.au/filemedia/Reports/DriverFatigueASurveyLongDistance.pdf
- ^ http://www.choosesafetyforlife.com/drowsy.htm
- ^ http://www.logisticsmagazine.com.au/news/Sunglasses-detect-fatigue
- ^ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ipromise/hi-tech-glasses-can-read-driver-fatigue/story-fn55yw9h-1225851598811
- ^ http://www.miningtechnologyaustralia.com.au/optalert
- ^ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rjL7apCdztMJ:www.truckworld.com.au/News/ALLRig_launch_new_drowsy_driver_detection_device_at_2010_ITTE_Show.aspx+Harvard+University+Medical+School+optalert&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
- ^ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/melbourne-sleep-expert-murray-johns-markets-his-drowsiness-monitor-optalert/story-e6frg9n6-1225843006848
- ^ http://www.mining-technology.com/contractors/vehicle/sleep-diagnostics/
- ^ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/melbourne-sleep-expert-murray-johns-markets-his-drowsiness-monitor-optalert/story-e6frg9n6-1225843006848
- ^ http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/limited-tickets-for-awards-dinner
- ^ http://www.idsa.org/idea2007/gallery/award_winners.asp?Categories_ID=1
External references
Categories:- Companies of Australia
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