A new device designed to prevent fatigue-related crashes has been dubbed a ''world first'' - but one Western Bay trucking company has already questioned whether the industry will buy into it.
The fatigue-detection device - a head-mounted prototype which uses sensors to detect drowsiness in drivers - is being developed by Canterbury University electrical engineering PhD student Simon Knopp.
''Lapses can have serious consequences. Truck drivers, pilots, and air traffic controllers, for instance, have to stay alert for long periods of time and risk causing fatalities if they don't,'' he said.
Mr Knopp's device detects such lapses and alerts a person before they have an accident. Multiple sensors are used to determine the person's state. A miniature camera looks at the eyes, and sensors measure brain activity and head movement.
''[Lapses] vary from microsleeps, where you essentially fall asleep for a moment, to sustained attention lapses.