Health care is being highlighted as a future industry.

The most attention-grabbing fields since the development of deep learning-based AI would have to be security, big data analysis, self-driving, etc. But health care is also getting much attention as a future industry. Health care sector usually approaches consumers through personal devices like smart bands and smartphone apps. Recently, cars are being grafted onto the health care industry. It’s about recognizing a driver’s health status and connecting it to the vehicle system to induce safe driving. Let’s find out what functions there are.

Drowsy driving prevention system

Technological development also effectively prevents drowsy driving.

The biggest driving accidents are mostly caused by drowsy driving. There’s the drowsy driving prevention system which staves off such accidents with general cameras or infrared cameras. The principle differs by manufacturers, but it usually utilizes general cameras based on deep learning. The deep learning camera which steadily learns with data on many faces can recognize where a driver is looking at, whether the driver is driving properly, if the driver is dozing off, etc. It recognizes the driver’s status in real time and wakes the driver up with sound or vibration if the driver falls asleep while driving or helps the driver to pull over. Even with a low level of self-driving, this is a great method which can be used in most connected cars.

Many self-driving companies, manufacturers, IT companies, etc are researching this field, and it is expected to be realized after 2021. A technology that gives a notification to take a break via steering wheel movement, lane keeping and cameras is already commercialized.

Hyundai Kia Motors’ state of the art driver aid system ‘ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System)’ keeps the drivers safe.

As for Hyundai Motors Group, drowsy driving can be detected with its already developed DSM (Driver State Monitoring) system as well as Hyundai Mobis DDREM (Departed Driver Rescue and Exit Maneuver). In 2019, Hyundai Motors made an investment in the face recognition AI start up Deep Glint. Deep Glint AI effectively recognizes faces in 3D, which is expected to contribute to recognizing a car owner, a driver’s status, etc.

▶ Hyundai Mobis ‘DDREM(Departed Driver Rescue and Exit Maneuver)’ system related articles

Recognizing a driver’s status with smart sensor

A technology that prevents strating a car if a driver has a high level of blood alcohol content has been deveolped.

The fact that smart bands are lighter than watches shows that various sensors we use are not as big as we think they are. Cars are always close to the drivers and come in various types of spaces, which makes them ideal to load such sensors. Car companies made use of such information and developed a technology which measures electrocardiogram with seats or steering wheels.

In 2015, students from the Cintalapa Technology Institute in Mexico developed sensors that can recognize blood alcohol content with steering wheel, transmission, and seat. The blood alcohol content usually requires drawing blood or spit, but these sensors can get the job done with sweat. The high level of blood alcohol content will prevent a driver from starting a car. It determines DUI without the interference of a driver who is unable to make rational decisions. This technology has been commercialized as the aftermarket product ‘AlcoStop’.

Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors showcased their health status checkup function with body signals at CES. In 2014, Kia Motors had already showed off a technology with the name U-health care which checks a driver’s heartbeat, body fat, stress level, etc via a sensor on the steering wheel switch. In the future, smart sensors will also be able to get specific blood sugar information and recognize DUI through electrocardiogram review.

Reporting an emergency

MDGo AI recognizes a passenger’s status upon an accident with many sensors.

You can also react smartly when an emergency takes place to a driver. Hyundai Motors developed and applied a BlueLink service function which transfers the location of an accident vehicle to the ER if the airbag is activated. Also, the 2018 Nexo self-driving car has the technology which sends over the passenger information such as blood pressure and heartbeat to medical experts for real time health diagnosis from them. Recently, they partnered with the Israel startup MDGo to develop a health care technology which will go on connected cars. MDGo AI, which was jointly created by medical doctors and software developers, automatically creates a report that displays the seriousness of injuries upon an accident with sensors on a vehicle. This report is sent to nearby hospitals and ambulances for optimum emergency treatment at the accident site.

Self-driving cars and the expansion of mobility rights of the physical minorities

Once a fully self-driving car is developed, the mobility rights of the physical minorities will be enhanced greatly.

The mobility rights of the physical minorities not only in Korea but all around the world have become a huge issue. About 3.6 million people just in the U.S. are missing their medical appointments. When a fully self-driving car is developed, their mobility rights are expected to be enhanced greatly. Also, even if we don’t own a vehicle, we can anticipate systems for nearby ambulances to transfer patients, etc.

In 2019, Hyundai Motors achieved Level 2 with ADAS, for its driving assistance function. It is also making great efforts in developing self-driving cars by investing in the American self-driving startup Aurora.

If the development of fully self-driving cars doesn’t happen as quickly, using vehicles suited to load wheelchairs can also help enhance mobility rights. Hyundai Motors Group introduced an easy move vehicle which has the rear entry type slope, electromotion assisting device, mobility assisting equipment, etc on Ray which is spacious enough to load a wheelchair. In June 2019, the Group was awarded by the president for being a socially responsible corporate.

Future mobility acting as a hospital

PBV and Hub together can be utilized as a general hospital.

Hyundai Motors also proposed a new concept mobility solution which can be applied in the health care at this year’s CES. It’s PBV (Purpose built vehicle) and Hub (Mobility transfer hub). The PBV is a self-driving ground mobility which can change into various shapes and functions depending on the purpose. It has a very high utility as it can be used for public transportation, clinic, cafe, living space, freight transfer, etc. It’s especially noticeable that if PBV is realized, it can act as a ‘mobile clinic’. In the future, we might be able to receive emergency treatments in a mobile clinic, not in an ambulance with minimum equipment.

The base of such PBVs is the Hub. Basically, it acts like an airport or a terminal. The Hub has the docking station to be connected to PBVs, and upon connection with PBVs, it can be used in so many ways. As it is not fixed into a single form, it can also be utilized as a regional hub general hospital depending on the need. It’s still to be realized, but when the day comes, a new world where patients are treated in a moving vehicle free from time and space limitations will open up.

Continually evolving automotive health care

We’ve looked into drowsy driving, DUI prevention technologies as well as future mobility which defines the concept of hospital differently. They are already ever so close to our lives. We can see that the automotive health care system is an industry of the future and a core industry which will enhance the quality of our lives.

Hyundai Motors Group will continue to develop these mobility solutions while also carrying out investments to discover promising health care startups. With Hanwha Life Insurance, it is selecting and investing in startups related to health care, wellness, AI, body recognition, Internet of Things, O2O, etc. We hope that Korean startups that show off top class technologies and renowned Korean businesses will get together to develop technologies that will transfer passengers ever more safely and surprise the world.