A seat capable of identifying if a person is driving drunk or has fallen asleep at the wheel has been developed by a team of Japanese and Americans.

The seat can even tell if a patient in a hospital bed is going into cardiac arrest or if a patient has an irregular pulse and needs care.

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Researchers from the University of Tokyo and Delta Tooling Co Ltd. in Michigan worked together to develop this new sensing technology.

The technology is different from others since it's not really attached or hooked-up to a person. Instead, the machine is embedded in the seat of a car or a hospital bed. It causes no visible discomfort to the user.

The device can detect sounds and vibrations from a person's cardiovascular system, alerting doctors to irregularities in the user.

The biggest hurdle developers had to overcome was that of noise, preventing the sound of the cardiovascular system from being recorded and measured.

The sound and vibrations of the cardiovascular system are transformed into aortic pulse waves (apw) after being transmitted to the skin surface of the back. These apws aren't measurable by stethoscope or microphone, mainly due to noise.

Noise plays an even bigger part in a moving car, hindering the measurement of the apws even more.

Thus, scientists attempted to reduce the influence of noise by amplifying the 20Hz component and detecting it using a microphone. It was a success.

For the device itself, researchers developed a sensor that consists of a three-dimensional net, a bead foam body and a microphone embedded within.

The 3D net allows the apws to be amplified and transmit the vibration, while dispersing the applied pressure of a human body.

TagsDetecting Seat, Drowsy, Drunk, University of Tokyo, Delta Tooling Co Ltd.