Will your next car know you have Alzheimer’s before your Doctor does?

Very possibly. 

Advances in machine learning, and over 18 years of academic research by myself and my team in affective computing and social signal processing have allowed us to develop software that can reliably and consistently identify signs of long term and acute illness.

Should they wish, car and truck manufacturers could easily, or with a little enhancement, incorporate the software into preexisting safety monitoring systems. 

This would open up a whole host of opportunities to add value to the passenger experience. 

With our software, safety comes as standard. We would easily be able to identify, for example, drowsiness and alert the driver. But we can also identify elements of discomfort; car sickness for example. This then creates an opportunity for smarter cars to gather and respond to visual queues changing the in-car environment or the ride in response.

But Alzheimer’s really?

Your Doctor will always have a primary role in the way you get diagnosed and treated. 

But the nice thing about your car is you’re in it day after day (if you’re a commuter, that is). Our technology is constantly observing you; your facial expressions, facial muscle actions, as well as where you are looking, body pose and the tone of your voice. It detects minute differences in the way you behave, the way you look and  the way you move. By comparing the way your behaviour changes over time it can identify all kinds of medical conditions that change the way you behave. And yes it could determine whether changes in your facial movements are the first signs of a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s. Once identified you could be alerted and prompted to provide data to assist your Doctor with a diagnosis. 

But your car won’t just be able to assist with early warnings of potential long term illnesses. It will be able to detect more acute medical conditions, for example a heart attack. In that scenario, BlueSkeye technology could detect indicators of pain in the chest manifested in the face, as well as perhaps paralysis of one half of the face.  

It’s even possible that the smart car of the future will not only know that you are having a heart attack, but will be able to take over control, pull over to the side of the road and call an ambulance. Who knows, the time may come when it drives you to the nearest hospital.  

All this is made possible by what we call Behaviomedics. Behaviomedics’ applies Affective Computing and Social Signal Processing to the field of medicine to help diagnose, monitor, and treat medical conditions that alter expressive behaviour. This is in turn based on a system for categorising the physical movements of the face, in particular the analysis of Facial Action Coding Systems (FACS) Action Units, or facial muscle actions, and linking them to emotion. 

Behaviomedics opens up the tantalising future opportunity for today’s automotive manufacturers. A future, smarter car could be not just a mode of transport but also a fundamental part of your healthcare regime. Not just keeping you safe, but prolonging your life and improving the quality of that longevity. That’s quite a sales pitch! 

If you would like to know more about what we do and how we do it, please get in touch. 

Get in touch with at sales@blueskeye.com