Mazda has just filed what may be the best patents for drivers in a long time. It's a system that finds roads that entertain you and avoids roads that don't.
The patent covers the idea of using the vehicle's in-car sensors to monitor the driver and uses active safety features like lane guidance and automatic braking in a unique way: to actually keep drivers engaged. The main goal is to detect distracted and even dangerous driving and help stop that type of driving from happening, but it can make driving more fun too.
There are already cars that will sound an alert if they think you're distracted, and others that lock away your phone if you're worried about the temptation. But like Mazda says, "even if he or she is alerted to the fact, he or she may still continue such distracted driving." So they wanted to "encourage (the driver) to drive actively and thereby increase his or her internal focus on driving."
It uses what Mazda calls a distracted driving sensing unit and a driving assistance unit. It uses sensors in the vehicle to monitor your head, eyes, and vehicle inputs. If it thinks you're distracted it will make inputs to increase driver focus or increase driver tension.
Those include audio or text instructions. It will give you a verbal warning, or the system will suggest on the dash display when you should be accelerating, turning, and braking. The patent doesn't detail exactly what measures the system will take.
If it thinks you're driving dangerously, the system will alter the experience to make you slow down. Like adding engine noise through a speaker and making the gas and brake more sensitive to your input. That raises driver stress, which makes you slow down.
But the best trick for enthusiasts is the carrot, not the stick. It will give you compliments on your driving. And it records how much it thinks you're enjoying a road. Drive well, and it will change the navigation directions to put you on roads it knows you like instead of ones it knows to leave you distracted or tense. It's a navigation system that knows where the best roads are and puts you on them.
This is just a patent, and Mazda hasn't said anything about any production plans. At this point, this is just an idea for a way to keep drivers engaged and then reward those who are. And we like that.
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