Interior camera question - is it being used currently but not reported?

[cybrwzrd]

Is the interior camera already monitoring driver alertness? I had the forward collision warning go off today one me when I was moving slowing through a parking lot, looking at a sign and the car ahead of me abruptly slowed down. This car though was about ~150 feet away. That seems really far to kick off the forward collision warning system, since I was only going about 15 mph.

I have had a few other similar events happen over the past few months and I know that Tesla has a patent for this tech. Could it already be operating in the background unannounced in an early state? Anyone else notice this?

 

[Tam]

...looking at a sign...

One single incidence of alarm based on one single unattentively looking away doesn't sound like a good correlation.

You need to do it again by looking at the road and also by looking away.

Repeat and rinse over and over again to see whether there's any correlation.

 

[jjrandorin]

Is the interior camera already monitoring driver alertness? I had the forward collision warning go off today one me when I was moving slowing through a parking lot, looking at a sign and the car ahead of me abruptly slowed down. This car though was about ~150 feet away. That seems really far to kick off the forward collision warning system, since I was only going about 15 mph.

I have had a few other similar events happen over the past few months and I know that Tesla has a patent for this tech. Could it already be operating in the background unannounced in an early state? Anyone else notice this?

Where do you find anything at all that says that the camera inside model 3s is even tentatively for driver attentiveness? The only statements I find are around the fact that musk says its "for when the cars are used as robotaxies to see if someone messes up your car" and "it could be used for Sentry mode".

Please link to a quote anywhere that says that TESLA might use this camera for "driver inattentiveness".

Thats another brands internal camera... (fairly certain its supercruise from GM...)

 

[Tam]

...link...

There's a Tesla patent for an interior camera:

Interesting pictures:

Maybe it can sense how handsome this driver is but the driver was taking eyes off the road:

Maybe that's because the driver was picking up a passenger and they are in love as the video audio system 232 indicated:

Maybe love can be exhaustive as detected by the camera:

Nowhere in these pictures would show the rude alarm that might break up the romance

 

[webbah]

I have mine covered and my car doesn’t stop on me so it most likely is dormant. My understanding is this is for future use like robo-taxi mode.

 

[DMLou]

The owners' manual also states it's for future use.

That said, I'd be strongly in favor of one of the future uses being for driver alertness checking, if possible. Nothing against robo taxi mode either if they ever get that working. That would be cool too. However, I think improved driver alertness monitoring makes more sense in the short term.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Just FYI... I believe Cadillac's interior camera is indeed used for driver attention checking.

 

[RecognitionD]

They should relocate that camera to the drivers footwell to put an end to the unintended acceleration claims!

 

[Tam]

They should relocate that camera to the drivers footwell to put an end to the unintended acceleration claims!

There have been quite a few unintended acceleration claims and even a current lawsuit too but historically, Tesla car log was good enough.

If a car log doesn't do it this time, maybe a footwell camera will be a good idea but it's definitely more expensive than a car log.

 

[Knightshade]

Just FYI... I believe Cadillac's interior camera is indeed used for driver attention checking.

It is- but it's located in an entirely difference place, is an entirely different kind of camera, and has additional support hardware useful for this task.

The tesla camera would be steaming hot garbage at that job with the HW currently in the car- wrong location, wrong angle, wrong type of camera, wrong (as in 0) supporting HW.



The tesla patent BTW is primarily focused on using a camera to do things like adjust the stereo or climate control based on who is sitting where, how tall they are, etc... there's nothing I can see about driver attention, though there is one suggestion it could sense if the driver was unconscious and if they were then unresponsive to an audio prompt it could call 911.

 

[focher]

In most jurisdictions it would be illegal for Tesla to activate the interior camera without authorization.

 

[doug]

The Model 3 camera isn't really positioned properly to do gaze detection. It should, however, be able to tell if the driver is slumped over or not, as in the patent drawing.

 

[White3P]

They should relocate that camera to the drivers footwell to put an end to the unintended acceleration claims!

haha! That’s a great idea.

 

[CSnow]

Just FYI... I believe Cadillac's interior camera is indeed used for driver attention checking.

GM SuperCruise (sp?), which is used in Cadillac models, has a camera to replace steering wheel input to ensure the driver is paying attention. But it doesn't operate unless SuperCruise is engaged (as I understand it).

Volvo is releasing an interior camera to monitor for distracted and drunk driving, regardless of any automated car settings, if I remember correctly. But in reference to the OPs question, I don't think this camera is being used at all right now. I don't even know if anyone has ever confirmed it's hooked up to anything - anyone done a tear down to see if the wires connect anywhere? Ha.

 

[keljo]

I've noticed the last two times my car has been serviced that my camera cover has been moved to the "open" position.

The first time I didn't catch it for a few days so I thought maybe I hit it, so the next time it was serviced I made a conscious effort to check it immediately before and after. It was closed before and open after. I wondered if the techs have to be on camera in the event you claimed damage after service?

 

[Jeff Hudson]

In most jurisdictions it would be illegal for Tesla to activate the interior camera without authorization.

Authorization from who?

 

[focher]

Authorization from who?

You. Even if Tesla never sends the video out of the car, you as the car owner would have to consent for that camera to be on.

 

[G4Z808]

It is- but it's located in an entirely difference place, is an entirely different kind of camera, and has additional support hardware useful for this task.

The tesla camera would be steaming hot garbage at that job with the HW currently in the car- wrong location, wrong angle, wrong type of camera, wrong (as in 0) supporting HW.



The tesla patent BTW is primarily focused on using a camera to do things like adjust the stereo or climate control based on who is sitting where, how tall they are, etc... there's nothing I can see about driver attention, though there is one suggestion it could sense if the driver was unconscious and if they were then unresponsive to an audio prompt it could call 911.

I've been thinking that the cabin camera would be really cool for a auto-targeting HVAC feature. I wonder if that's in the pipeline

 

[Jeff Hudson]

I've been thinking that the cabin camera would be really cool for a auto-targeting HVAC feature. I wonder if that's in the pipeline

What? Do you mean like if the camera AI detects the driver is blowing out warm condensed air into a cold car or if it detects sweat rolling down the drivers face?

 

[G4Z808]

What? Do you mean like if the camera AI detects the driver is blowing out warm condensed air into a cold car or if it detects sweat rolling down the drivers face?

LOL! if only it was that intelligent, I was thinking more along the lines of using face tracking for the aiming of the vents, instead of using the touchscreen to manually aim the air stream, there could be a toggle to turn on auto-tracking

the patent photos obviously look to be describing such a feature, but I'm wondering if Tesla is actually planning on implementing it, or just patent it