Vayyar Imaging
Improving Passenger Safety with 4D Imaging Sensors

August 2018, a three-year-old toddler in Houston, TX suffered from heat strokes and hyperthermia after being left inside a hot car for over seven hours. The little girl’s father, instead of dropping her at the daycare, unknowingly left her in the back seat of the car and parked it behind the restaurant where he worked. Miraculously, the girl was conscious and survived the incident.

But not all children are this fortunate. In June 2019, an 11-month-old baby girl from Missouri breathed her last in a hot car after being locked inside for as long as 15 hours.

As unfortunate as they are, such incidents are very common in the U.S. According to a recent report by KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit child safety organization, on an average, 38 children die each year after being left in cars during hot weather, and out of them almost 87 percent are three years old or younger. This heart-wrenching situation leads to one question: “Is there a way to avert these incidents from occurring?”

With the help of Vayyar Imaging’s 4D sensors, the answer is yes! The eight-year-old Israeli startup offers sophisticated millimeter-wave 4D imaging radar sensors for automotive manufacturers. “By emitting low-frequency (RF) radio waves and detecting their reflections, our sensors analyze and identify the number of passengers present inside the car, build a real-time 4D image of each person, and monitor their vital signs and posture in real-time,” says Raviv Melamed, CEO of Vayyar. In case a child is left behind in the car, Vayyar’s sensors monitor the infant’s breath and alert the parent. Through this breakthrough technology, Vayyar is radically enhancing infant passenger safety in vehicles.

Recently, following the rise in hot car deaths, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats (HOT CARS) Act of 2019, a bill that mandates all new cars to be equipped with a system that detects and alerts the presence of a passenger in the back seat when the vehicle is turned off. Driven by this decree, automotive companies are now challenged to quickly develop a technology that addresses this need. With Vayyar’s sophisticated 4D sensors already in the marketplace, carmakers can breathe a sigh of relief.

“Today, as the automotive industry transitions toward autonomous cars, our vehicles need accurate information about the external as well as the internal environment in order to understand everything that is happening around them better,” informs Melamed. This is precisely what Vayyar’s sensors are able to achieve.

Unlike cameras or other automotive sensors, our 4D sensors have the ability to distinguish objects even in the dark and extreme weather conditions, whilst maintaining 100 percent passenger privacy all the time

The radar on chip creates a moment-by-moment visual map covering passengers inside the vehicle as well as pedestrians and objects on the outside. So, if a driver is dozing off, the sensors can track the driver’s head movement and position, and send an alert to the emergency contact of the person, warning of potential driving mishap. Alongside, Vayyar’s sensors can also be used to remove blind spots of the vehicle, identify nearby obstacles, and provide perimeter information for self-parking. “Today, not only are we leaders in cabin safety but also pioneers in out of car sensors,” states Melamed. What truly talks for itself is the imaging solution’s ability to work even in bad lighting. “Unlike cameras or other automotive sensors, our 4D sensors have the ability to distinguish objects even in the dark and extreme weather conditions, whilst maintaining 100 percent passenger privacy all the time,” remarks Melamed. Adding to this list of benefits are four other factors that truly make Vayyar’s solutions unparalleled in the marketplace: their cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency, small size, and ability to detect objects within a wide range accurately.

Today, Vayyar’s 4D imaging sensors are opening new capabilities in various markets, including smart home, security, retail, and remote patient care. Going forward, the firm will continue to develop innovative 4D imaging solutions specifically for the public transportation domain. Vayyar has also established partnerships with tier-one companies such as Valeo, Faurecia, and Brose to build smart, tailored solutions that will improve the safety of passengers and vehicles. With a strong belief that 4D imaging sensors will play an important role in advancing the automotive industry, the firm is poised to lead the way with its state-of-the-art solutions.