OmniVision Technologies announced its collaboration with Smart Eye to integrate OmniVision’s latest 2-Mpixel image sensor with Smart Eye’s sensing algorithm library in a turnkey driver and cabin monitoring solution that targets automotive OEMs. OmniVision’s OV2311 is the first 2-Mpixel sensor with global shutter and an ASIL B rating in a small package, which are critical features for automotive applications that require high-precision gaze and eye tracking. This sensor-plus-algorithm solution enables the full range of driver and cabin monitoring implementations, from safety applications to augmented reality displays and interior sensing with deep neural networks and AI.

Eye- and gaze-tracking cameras need to be small and unobtrusive so that drivers do not feel they are being monitored, but smaller cameras tend to run hot and create excess system noise. The OV2311 image sensor, which comes in a chip-scale package, consumes half the power of competing 1-megapixel solutions, keeping the temperature under control without sacrificing performance. Its high pixel density enables a wide field of view for a larger headbox to adjust for various driver seat positions, along with clear, precise images for tracking gaze. Additionally, the wider field of view opens the opportunity for sensing throughout the cabin interior, including passengers as well as the driver.

The two companies are in discussions with multiple automotive OEMs, covering a significant number of upcoming car models.

eletter-05-15-2018