A correct seating position for the driver is essential for many reasons; safety must be listed in first place.
Any safety instructor at a safety driving academy will tell you that the correct angle of your legs towards the pedals, or the right position of your body to the steering wheel, is something which must not be underestimated. But what do you do if a driving instructor is not around when you first sit in your new car?
Mazda says it has come up with an answer to this question, via its ‘Driver Personalization’ system. Nobuaki Tabata, the programme manager at the Integrated System Development Division, and his team wanted to tackle the fact that most drivers are not aware of how to achieve the best driving position for themselves. Using facial recognition and cutting-edge technology, it claims the process delivers tailored recommendations to maximise both comfort and safety.
The optimum positioning of the driver has always been a key component in any Mazda vehicle’s development. However, Mazda researchers have recently discovered that less than 50 per cent of drivers position themselves correctly for comfort, safety, and control of the vehicle.
The Driver Personalization system uses a camera facing the driver to enable physique-estimation technology. Once the driver has entered their height manually with the commander control (this only needs to be done on the very first set-up ) the system calculates and offers the best placement for that person based on the position of their eyes. Of course, the drive can override and modify the position if they want to.
When the driver switches off the engine and releases the seat belt buckle, the seat and steering wheel automatically reset and activate to let the driver get out of the car more easily.
“We developed this function using a vast amount of data. Once facial recognition has identified the driver, the system, based on our physique estimation, can suggest how the seating position should be adjusted. It’s like coaching the driver based on the experience of the manufacturer.
“Roughly speaking, there are more than 100 personalisation items prepared for this car using the facial-recognition system. Other examples include individual adjustments to music, the volume of safety alerts, and ambient lighting, which can be tuned and adjusted for specific drivers," Tabata stated.
With this ingenious facial-recognition technology, Mazda says that it is seeking to reduce driver stress before the journey has even begun, through driving a Mazda vehicle equipped with the Driver Personalisation system.
