Toyota Motor Corporation has revealed a new safety feature that notifies car owners of movement in the cabin. The safety feature — called Cabin Awareness — alerts the owner if someone is left behind in their car.
Cabin Awareness uses a millimeter-wave 4D-imaging radar that senses movement in the cabin and alerts the owner about it via a smart connectivity feature. Toyota has filed a patent for this feature and is awaiting its approval.
This technology is intended to monitor passengers or pets left in a parked car and safeguard them from risks such as heat stroke or suffocation. The automaker’s rationale for this technology is the common nature of injuries or deaths caused by the aforementioned issue.
Toyota claims that the millimeter-wave radar is more efficient and accurate compared to weight sensors, cameras, or limited range radars. It said that the technology will notify the owners with accurate updates or emergencies by reading and perceiving movement patterns.
Toyota is testing Cabin Awareness in its fleet of self-driving Sienna minivans. The company hasn’t mentioned a launch timeline for its new technology, however, speculations suggest that it may do so next year.
