#CES2023 - HARMAN is 'Ready' for Driver Wellness, Child Safety, Vision AR & Sound Detection

At CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Harman announced a portfolio of products 'Ready' for vehicles and external sound and vibration sensor products. The Ready suite includes Ready Care driver monitoring, Ready Display with Samsung screen tech, Ready on Demand for paid audio, Ready Upgrade and Ready Vision AR. The external sensor products sense sounds and interprets them.

HARMAN is Ready to Care for Driver Wellness

Ready Care detects a driver's personal state and then deploys an in-vehicle cabin response to mitigate safety risks and increase well-being.

The HARMAN news release states: 'Ready Care is the industry's first closed-loop interior sensing and tailored interventions solution that measures a driver's eyes, cognitive load and vitals to determine the level of focus and attention on the road ahead'. Ready Care was launched in the fall of 2022. HARMAN added radar sensors to detect heart rate, breathing rate and inter-beat levels to measure a driver's state of well-being. These sensors also detect if a child is left in the vehicle.

Using AI, visual and mental cognitive load measurement deciphers when a driver is mentally distracted from driving based on eye activity, neuroscience and state of mind.

Ready Care adjusts the temperature, audio settings and vehicle lighting in response to the driver's state.

Ready. Set. Display!

Ready Display, enabled by patented Samsung technology, offers brilliant high-quality affordable displays for automotive.

Ready Display delivers high-dynamic-level performance with cadmium-free Quantum Dot technology and low power consumption. It enables readability under harsh environmental conditions (temperature or sunlight).

Quantum dot film provides home-entertainment quality and lower halo effects. Ready Display is thin and compatible with vehicle designs, graphic system safety and security requirements.

Paid Audio Features on Demand is Ready

Ready on Demand is a software platform that enables the paid activation of audio features, controlled by an in-system app.

"Ready on Demand transforms the traditional complex retrofit upgrade process for audio into something quick and easy for consumers, who can now create and customize their in-vehicle listening experience with just a few clicks," says Armin Prommersberger, Senior Vice President of Product Management, HARMAN International.

HARMAN developed an initial set of on-demand experiences for communication to interact with people both in and out of the vehicle and audio enhancements.

Upgrade to Ready Upgrade

Ready Upgrade provides OEMs and drivers with software updates.

Ready Upgrade includes an instrument cluster and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) software stack, an array of pre-integrated features, three families of production-grade Cockpit Domain Controllers and a full suite of low-code software development tools for customers.

"The current project-based approach simply takes too long – often three years or more to source, develop and launch a bespoke product that becomes obsolete shortly after launch," explains Prommersberger, "Ready Upgrade adopts a product-based approach that transforms the vehicle into a modern electronic device, on track with both smart homes and smartphones in delivering an unparalleled user experience that is much quicker to market with the capability to remain up-to-date throughout the life of the vehicle."

Ready Vision AR

Ready Vision uses Augmented Reality Head-Up-Display (HUD) hardware and software to enhance driver safety and awareness. Turn-by-turn navigation is displayed on the windshield. The non-intrusive Ready Vision system uses computer vision and machine learning for 3D object detection to deliver non-intrusive collision, blind spot and speed notifications to the driver.

Ready Vision prioritizes the display of relevant objects without obstructing the driver's view.

"Ready Vision solves key industry challenges to driver safety by helping drivers better understand their surroundings and delivering an eyes-forward, focused journey,'" says Prommersberger.

Cars Can Hear You Now

Sound and Vibration Sensor (SVS) + External Microphone products are integrated into a vehicle's exterior, enabling the detection of emergency vehicle sirens or "hearing" of exterior speech commands from drivers or traffic controllers. The system can detect glass breakage or vehicle impacts.

Autonomous vehicles will likely need enhanced external sensors to increase awareness of exterior sounds vehicles with SVS & External Microphone will be "ready".

All this HARMAN technology and more are displayed at the HARMAN EXPLORE CES showcase at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas.