Preventing drowsiness by heartbeat-synchronized vibration

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a stimulation, which has an active physiological influence to prevent severe driver drowsiness while driving. This paper presents a heartbeat-synchronized vibration, which is the rhythmic pulsation of a motor with each beat of the heart, as an effective means to ease drivers' slight deprivation of oxygen with the appearance of cardiorespiratory coordination. The effects of this stimulation were confirmed by the results of an experiment done in cooperation with 15 subjects. The results showed that cardiorespiratory coordination appeared under the stimulation and it played an active influence on the oxygen supply to the body. We conclude that the vibratory stimulation has an active influence to prevent drowsiness. It might be effective to prevent severe drowsiness while driving. © 2012 IEEE.