Faurecia, Accenture and Affectiva to develop car cabin of the future

Ireland-based business and technology solution provider Accenture, Faurecia, a French automotive supplier and Affectiva, a US-based emotion measurement technology company, are collaborating to innovate driver safety and in-car infotainment for occupants. The entire program is based on the ‘Connected Car Lab’, which is a digital product and service innovation facility that fits into a car to allow Faurecia, one of the world’s leading automotive technology companies, to ideate, test and develop applications and experiences for the car cabin of the future.

The Connected Car Lab, which was developed with help from ‘Accenture Industry X.0’, features a connected vehicle platform that gathers data about driver behaviour and conditions inside the car cabin as well as outside the vehicle. By using artificial intelligence (AI) and other innovative technologies — including integrated smart sensors, wearables and in-car video cameras — the data is used to detect and assist the driver with safety issues, such as drowsiness, attention, posture discomfort and temperature.

Accenture and Faurecia are using the ‘Connected Car Lab’ to reinvent the consumer driving experience by feeding real driving data back into the design and engineering of future products and services.  Developed at Faurecia’s ‘Digital Service Factory’ with the support of Accenture, the Connected Car Lab leverages Affectiva’s Automotive AI to unobtrusively monitor emotional and cognitive states of the driver and other passengers from facial and vocal expressions. Affectiva is claimed to be a ‘Human Perception AI’ pioneer. These and other innovative digital technologies enable enhanced safety and always-on connectivity.
 
Maxence Tilliette, a managing director for Industry X.0, Accenture Industrial, said, “People are expecting the same level of comfort, safety, connectivity and entertainment in their cars as they get at home or in the office. The Connected Car Lab is an environment where we can quickly design, test, measure and improve onboard services. These production cars are equipped with a custom developed IoT platform that collects data from many sensors and that can also provide feedback through various actuators. This platform is agile and very flexible by design to allow us to quickly add and test new on-board experiences, powered by sensors, actuators and AI models.”

Gregoire Ferre, chief digital officer of Faurecia, said: “This collaboration with Accenture is helping us to accelerate our digital transformation. The Digital Service Factory, co-hosted by Accenture and Faurecia, is helping our Product Development teams embrace new technologies and new ways of working. A multi-disciplinary team consisting of designers, developers, data scientist and business analysts is working together to develop great product innovation tools like the Connected Car Lab.”
 
Dr Rana el Kaliouby, co-founder and CEO of Affectiva said, “We’re delighted to be part of Accenture and Faurecia’s Connected Car Lab. In next-generation vehicles, it will be critical for cars to understand what’s happening with the people inside of them to ensure road safety and optimize the in-cabin experience. Integrated with a platform like the Connected Car Lab, Affectiva’s Human Perception AI will unlock this awareness of all things human inside a vehicle, through a deep understanding of occupants’ moods, emotions, cognitive states, activities, interactions and more.”