Eyesight and Exsun Partner to Bring Life-saving AI Vision to China’s Trucking Industry

Eyesight a leading provider of edge-based computer vision AI solutions for the automotive industry, has teamed up with top Chinese GPS and telematics firm Exsun to make trucking safer, helping commercial trucks comply with new Chinese regulations which came into place in order to reduce accidents caused by driver drowsiness and inattentiveness.

More than a quarter of a million people a year (over 700 a day) are killed in traffic accidents in China, according to the WHO, and millions more are injured. Road accidents are the leading cause of death for residents of China aged 15-44. Accidents involving large vehicles like trucks are much more likely to be serious or fatal.

Chinese authorities are demanding that trucking companies combat this danger. Shenzhen, one of China’s largest and fastest-growing cities, recently passed a law requiring all heavy trucks to have Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) installed by this coming June.

To meet these new safety requirements, Eyesight and Exsun have signed a multi-million dollar deal to produce an aftermarket Driver Monitoring System. Eyesight’s camera and Computer Vision AI will be part of Exsun fleet management and telematics solutions, which are installed in hundreds of thousands of trucks. Eyesight’s technology tracks the driver’s gaze direction, pupil dilation, eye openness, blink rate and head position to determine in real-time if the driver is drowsy, inattentive or unfocused on the road.

Truck safety is a problem worldwide. According to the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, there were more than 100,000 truck and bus accidents in the US in 2016, resulting in 4,500 deaths. The Labor Department’s statistics show that being a truck driver is the deadliest job in America. Current federal regulations on trucking only focus on mandatory break-times and driving hours. Eyesight expects that future regulations will include a driver-monitoring component too, and anticipates bringing their driver-monitoring system to haulage fleets in the US and worldwide.

“Driver exhaustion and drowsiness are serious issues in the trucking industry,” said Gideon Shmuel, CEO of Eyesight. “With Exsun’s help, our Driver Monitoring System will give Chinese truck drivers vital real-time alerts that will prevent accidents and save lives. The technology helps truckers and other large commercial vehicle drivers, protecting them and everyone they share the road with, all around the world.”

About Exsun

Exsun is one of China’s leading suppliers of GPS and telematics systems, along with air pollution monitoring systems. More than 3 million vehicles have Exsun products installed, and their positioning service has more than 10 million end-users.