SnapBACK Awake

A joint endeavour between Ford and a Sao Paulo-based creative agency, GTB, has taken a large leap forward in brainwave monitoring technology. They have developed headwear of the classic ‘trucker hat’ fashion fitted with an array of sensors, an accelerometer and a gyroscope to monitor attentiveness and head movements.

The ‘SafeCap’ comes in honour of Ford celebrating 60 years of truck production in Brazil and looks to save lives by preventing drivers of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) from falling asleep or into a state of inattentiveness. It comes at a time when falling asleep at the wheel is real concern for truck drivers.

When you or I fall asleep at our desks, we merely receive a chiding from our employer. This is not the case for truck drivers. A sleepy truck driver runs the risk of causing injury, or worse, to both himself or other road users. Thus, the SafeCap is born.

So, how exactly does the headgear wake up its users? If the technology within the hat recognises the driver is dozing or falling asleep, a combination of sound, light and vibration is used to jolt the driver awake. Hopefully, after this wake-up call, the driver will recognise that they are too tired to be behind the wheel and pull over to a halt.

There are five stages of sleep, making up the electroencephalogram, each giving off a different variant of brainwave. Each brainwave represents a different speed of oscillating electrical voltages within the brain, almost like a signature. Stage One emits Theta brainwaves – running at four to seven cycles per second – the presence of such brainwaves informs the SafeCap that the wearer is drifting into the first stage of sleep.