Eye-tracking tech detects impairment

This device could help to keep people safe at work and on the road

Spotted: Breathalysers and other tests are now commonplace to spot drunk drivers, who are involved in about a third of all traffic collision fatalities in the US. But alcohol isn’t the only substance that can impair your driving – cannabis, which is now legal across many US states, also impacts your concentration, reaction times, and motor skills. Because cannabis stays in the body for weeks after initial use, existing tests aren’t effective at estimating the current impairment of an individual, making it difficult to spot and prevent impaired drivers from getting on the road. US startup Gaize might have a solution.

Gaize has developed an eye-testing device that automatically conducts eye movement and pupil size tests, much like a human law enforcement officer. The idea began when Ken Fichtler, the company’s founder and CEO, was the Director of Economic Development for the state of Montana and became aware of the challenges that businesses and law enforcement faced with legal cannabis. Shocked that there was no way to test for real-time cannabis impairment, Fichtler spent the next few years designing and developing Gaize’s system.

Embedded with eye-tracking sensors, the VR headset captures eye movement data with extreme precision and this data is analysed using statistical and AI models to detect impairment of drivers and employees at work. The device also records these eye movements and the footage can then also be used as video evidence to prosecute impaired drivers and machine operators. Fichtler explained to Springwise that “This video provides Gaize with a level of defensibility radically above and beyond any other impairment detection technology.”

Gaize began with a focus on testing cannabis impairment, but the device is now also able to detect signs of impairment from alcohol, opiates, stimulants, dissociative anesthetics, and some psychedelics. According to the Fichtler, Gaize’s technology is already over 98 per cent effective at detecting the signs of impairment that law enforcement know about, but the company is continually working to improve the product. “We’ve also discovered new indicators of impairment that we want to integrate into our product to take accuracy to another level,” Fichtler told Springwise. To achieve this, the company is conducting further machine learning research and capturing more impairment data in clinical trials.

Written By: Matilda Cox