Human perception AI pioneer Affectiva has been granted six patents for detecting the awareness and emotions of vehicle occupants. Affectiva Automotive AI combines deep learning with computer vision – using in-vehicle cameras – to analyse the states of the driver and other vehicle occupants in a cabin in real-time. "Over the last decade, Affectiva has continuously pursued new patents as we have pioneered and advanced the fields of Emotion AI and Human Perception AI. The breadth and depth of our patent portfolio reflect our commitment to pushing the boundaries of computer vision, machine learning, deep learning and AI at the edge; and, is a testament to our leadership in defining the many creative and diverse applications of Human Perception AI that are shaping industries today and in the future." The main benefit of this data is, of course, safety.

Efforts to develop self-driving vehicles have largely focused on tracking what's going on outside the cars--think laser-based sensors to track other vehicles and digital mapping technologies to help navigate. Now, the industry is turning some of its attention to technologies that sense what's going on inside the vehicle. An initial goal is to better monitor driver alertness to help reduce the number of car accidents. But if fully autonomous vehicles one day become the norm, having technology that can understand the mood and preferences of passengers might enable the vehicle to automatically make adjustments that improve the riding experience. The jury is still out on whether vehicle occupants will prefer that to controlling changes themselves, but companies are trying to develop the technological capabilities anyway. "All of our technologies and our devices are becoming conversational and perceptual--even our car," says Rana el Kaliouby (pictured above), co-founder and CEO of Affectiva.