Evaluation of a fragrance system to counter sleepiness at the wheel – new research to start up at SAFER
Driver fatigue is a major cause of vehicle crashes and the prevention of fatigue is a major goal in the automotive industry. To reach the goal of zero traffic-accident fatalities, developing innovative solutions to prevent driver fatigue is a key objective. The aim of this new project is to evaluate the feasibility of using a chemosignal-based alerting fragrance (Moodify Red) during a driving task as well as assessing if the fragrance has a measurable effect on driver sleepiness and attention.
Tests in driving simulators
Driving simulator experiments will be performed to determine the efficacy of the alerting fragrance in a relevant context. Twenty sleep-deprived individuals will perform driving tasks in a simulator and the alerting fragrance or an inactive substance will be administered during the driving tasks in a cross-over double-blind design. The key performance indicators of this project will relate to sleepiness reduction and sustained driver performance. Outcome measures are subjective and objective sleepiness, vigilant attention and driving performance.
The project, which will be associated to SAFER, will be placed in the road user behaviour portfolio. FFI/Vinnova is the financier and the partners are VTI, Volvo Cars, KI, Moodify, WIS. Anna Sjörs Dahlman, VTI, is the project leader. The project started in April 2020 and will be finalized in March 2021.
