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Ridy Smart Camera Will Alert Drivers When They’re Distracted or Drowsy

By Laura Tucker
Ridy Smart Camera Will Alert Drivers When They’re Distracted or Drowsy Featured Image

We know the dangers of driving while intoxicated. Because of that, most of us know what amount we can drink or know after a certain amount that it’s time to arrange for another way to get home. But it can be different if you’re distracted while you’re driving or if you’re too drowsy. There’s no set barometer. The Ridy Smart Camera can take care of that, letting you know if you’re too distracted or drowsy to be behind the wheel.

How Ridy Smart Camera Works

If you’re sitting across from a good friend or a close family member, they know whether you’re distracted or too tired to drive. The reason is because they know you and know your cues that can tip them off. They listen to you talk, watch your face, etc.

But not everyone has a friend or family member with them to alert them and let them know when they’re not in an okay condition to drive. But Ridy can help them out in this situation.

The Ridy Smart Camera can attach to either your dashboard or windshield and uses machine learning technology as it watches your face and behavior for those very same clues to see if you’re distracted or drowsy, such as your rate of blinking your eyes, different facial expressions such as yawns, or looking away from the road.

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If it notices something, Ridy will give you a verbal warning which will be cued in to the severity of the situation. It could give you a simple warning, like “Keep your eyes on the road.” Or it could get extremely stern and issue, “Danger! Danger! Wake up!”

It will not take over your car for you or shut it off. That is still up to you. Additionally, it doesn’t record video nor access the Internet, so your privacy is still being kept.

“Young drivers can benefit a lot from this device,” said Ridy co-founder Yuri Galt to Digital Trends. “They often start texting or using Snapchat while driving. If you have a sixteen- to eighteen-years old kid, and you buy him a car, get him a Ridy as well. Professional drivers such as Uber drivers can also benefit from this, [along with] busy parents that lack sleep and any person who texts a lot while driving.”

Other Options

Unfortunately, the Ridy isn’t available and in production yet. While they have developed a working demo, it’s not the final product and isn’t being sold as of yet.

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There is a wearable device that can vibrate to wake you up if you start to fall asleep. However, this, too, is not in production as of yet.

However, certain auto manufacturers have drowsiness detection systems built in to the system itself. Instead of using machine learning, it judges things such as the angle of the steering wheel and the time the car is being driven to advise you if it’s time to take a break from driving. It doesn’t sound like it’s an exact science, but at least it can help somewhat and is already available.

But if you don’t mind waiting, the Ridy hopes to begin shipping in July.

Your Thoughts

I can see how this might be really helpful. I have a son who has bad sleep apnea, and before it was diagnosed and helped, he was often falling asleep when driving. Having an overnight job didn’t help much, and he eventually stopped driving until he found help. He would have eagerly put such a device in his car to keep himself and others safe, and we would have eagerly done that for him as well.

What do you think of the Ridy Smart Camera? Is this something you can see putting in your car to help you? Are you worried about the times that you drive when you’re distracted or too tired? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Laura Tucker Avatar
Laura Tucker
Laura has spent more than 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with the majority of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past 35 years. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.

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