Development of a feedback stimulation for drowsy driver using heartbeat rhythms.

We investigated the physiological response of a vibratory stimulation, which has the rhythm of heartbeats, and examined whether it is useful for the feedback stimulation for drowsy driving. We evaluated the efficiency of 4 types of vibratory rhythms for stimulation by using the sleepiness level estimated by the multiple linear regression model made from the indices of ECG and respiration. As the result, the vibratory rhythm, which has the real time heartbeats of subjects themselves, had an effect of inducing their physiological condition closer to the condition when they were struggling against the drowsiness. We concluded that the stimulation might be useful to prevent a drowsy driving if we could give it to the driver before he or she gets the severe drowsiness.