Lytx unveils ActiveVision service to detect distracted, drowsy driving

PHILADELPHIA — Lytx, a global provider of video-based driver safety, has unveiled what company officials call a giant leap forward in safe driving innovation with its Lytx ActiveVision service available for select Lytx DriveCam clients immediately, and industry-wide in January. The ActiveVision service is being publicly demonstrated at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition last month.

The ActiveVision service is a revolutionary and comprehensive safety solution that helps detect and address, both in real time and over time, distracted and drowsy driving and following too close, all potentially dangerous and costly driving behaviors that often go undetected, according to Lytx Chairman and CEO Brandon Nixon, who said such behaviors contribute to 6,000 deaths, 500,000 injuries and more than $175 billion in economic costs each year, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stats.

The ActiveVision service uses advanced analytics to identify patterns of behavior — such as lane departure or following too close — that are indicative of distracted and/or drowsy driving, and then uses video to help pinpoint the possible root causes.

When combined with the Lytx DriveCam safety program, the ActiveVision service is a comprehensive program that can help drivers improve performance and help mitigate risk, Nixon said.

Unlike other video-based safety systems currently available, Nixon said the service combines three technology advancements to address distracted and drowsy driving and following too close:

• Seamless integration with in-vehicle technology and Lytx DriveCam sensors for an extensive level of data collection.
• Advanced data analytics to form a holistic view of what’s happening on the road, and
• Comprehensive coaching including in-cab alerts and prompts, and post-drive coaching to help drivers continuously improve their skills.

“The most sophisticated technology in the cab will always be the human operator,” Nixon said. “So we created a system to augment the natural strengths of the human driver that leverages vast amounts of data, understands what that data means — and what’s important, and how that data can be used to make the roads safer for everyone. The ActiveVision service is the latest innovation from nearly two decades of research and development, and the insights from expert human review of more than 28 billion miles driven.”

The ActiveVision service executes sophisticated pattern detection to better surface and address otherwise hidden patterns, such as lane departures, improper fitness to lane, or following too close, which are top indicators of risky driving behaviors.

“Lytx, with the launch of the ActiveVision service, is priming to deliver comprehensiveness in the video safety market,” said Sathyanarayana K, research manager for Automotive & Transportation for Frost & Sullivan. “With real-time driver alerts and feedback, the Lytx ActiveVision service can reduce the risk of potential collision through a collective understanding of drivers’ in-cab behavioral patterns and on-road driving style (i.e., lane departure, following distance, and fitness to lane).”

Nixon said ActiveVision taps into many relevant data sources to inform both in-cab alerts and post-drive coaching feedback based on the overall environmental context for the purpose of providing more relevant feedback.

Some driving behaviors, for example, are safe in good weather conditions or when few cars are on the road, but are hazardous when road conditions take a turn for the worse.

The Lytx ActiveVision service is also highly adaptable to allow for the ability to expand as sensor technologies advance and as understanding of road safety evolves.

“Today, thanks in part to the proliferation of personal technology, commercial drivers and the drivers around them are bombarded with even more non-road related distractions,” Nixon said. “Simple monitoring and intervention systems alone may help bring attention to immediate, urgent safety behaviors, but they do little to improve driving for the long term. Furthermore, because these systems may generate frequent false alerts, they have the potential to contribute to driver complacency.”

Nixon said the ActiveVision service goes several steps beyond, pulling together a comprehensive understanding of what’s happening in the cab and on the road leading up to and during a potential collision or other safety event. That information is then used to alert the driver immediately and to help drivers proactively improve their performance to avoid collisions and similar events in the future.

For more information, visit lytx.com.