On Wednesday we had the great pleasure of welcoming the Taiwan media to our headquarters for a strategy update by Epan Wu, President of VIA Embedded, and a live demonstration of the new VIA Mobile360 AI Forklift Safety Kit.
The kit combines a VIA Mobile360 M810 system with four cameras installed on each face of the vehicle for Surround View monitoring plus a DMS (Driver Monitoring System) camera facing the driver’s seat. The front and rear cameras also support Dynamic Moving Object Detection (DMOD), which further enhances the situational awareness of the driver by detecting the approach of people and vehicles within a potentially dangerous range of the vehicle.
The kit differentiates between degrees of object proximity, each marked by concentric rings of red, yellow, and green, with red being the closest to the forklift and green being the furthest away. When individuals or objects are detected within range of any of the three rings, the system issues warning beeps to the driver, as well as showing video of them on the screen attached next to the steering wheel.
With its DMS camera, the kit notifies the driver through both audio and visual alerts whenever it detects any sign of drowsiness or distraction (such as a lowered head, closed eyes, or turned head), further boosting operational safety.
A forklift equipped with the kit was parked in the open-air courtyard in front of our headquarters for ease of close-up inspection. Visiting press were given the opportunity to experience the capabilities of the kit for themselves by taking turns standing within the detection range or sitting at the wheel of the vehicle. We are thankful for all the press members who participated in the press event and glad that our coworkers were finally able to witness the results of their work.
As Epan pointed out in her presentation, the VIA Mobile360 AI Forklift Safety Kit is just one example of VIA’s ongoing commitment to using Artificial Intelligence technology to boost vehicle safety for a wide range of applications and environments – from heavy construction to mass commuting. Watch this space for more VIA Mobile360 AI Safety Kit announcements in the future.