Daytime sleepiness is not just an inconvenience, it is a serious danger to safety, especially for drivers. Statistics show that drowsy driving causes numerous road deaths each year. The US National Safety Council has even recognized drowsiness as a critical hazard.
To counter this threat, engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an innovative headset that can detect signs of sleepiness in the brain. The technology, essentially a miniaturized electroencephalogram (EEG), promises to revolutionize road safety.
Earphones are small, fit in the ears and have built-in electrodes that contact the ear canal. These electrodes read brain waves, similar to a traditional EEG, but without the need to attach multiple electrodes to the head. Thanks to this, they can detect changes in brain activity that indicate increasing sleepiness.
The idea for these headphones is from Ricky Mueller, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, and his idea came after buying AirPods from Apple in 2017.
„We believe this technology has many potential applications. Classifying sleepiness is just the beginning. In the future, this technology could be used to classify sleep and even to diagnose sleep disorders, says Müller.
Developing headphones with EEG electrodes is not an easy task, however. Engineers must overcome a number of problems, such as ensuring good contact with the skin of the ear canal, creating a universal model suitable for users with different ear sizes, and developing a design that is simple and easy to manufacture.