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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Peter Brewer

One million cars later and countless lives saved by Canberra company

How Seeing Machines intervenes

One million cars around the world are now using the Canberra-developed driver distraction detection system.

The latest quarterly report by the Fyshwick-based technology company Seeing Machines revealed the new record mark was topped for the first time, with 1.086 million passenger cars now using the technology across a range of global brands, including Mercedes Benz and Ford.

The human-machine interaction company notched up a record quarter to finish out the financial year on the back of a 101 per cent increase in annual volume.

Chief executive officer Paul McGlone said there was also steady growth in the aftermarket - the Guardian alert system which fits to trucks and heavy vehicles - and the fast-growing aviation sector.

"Crossing the one-million threshold for the number of cars with Seeing Machines technology installed, up 143 per cent year on year, represents a major milestone and a great achievement," he said.

Seeing Machines CEO Paul McGlone with one of the calibration vehicles. Picture by Keegan Carroll

"With supply chains constraints now easing, our Guardian business now goes from strength to strength.

"We can expect aviation to be a meaningful contributor to the company's revenue and looming regulatory deadlines are driving the adoption of driver monitoring systems by automotive manufacturers."

One the great ACT business success stories and the 2018 Exporter of the Year, Seeing Machines has now sealed deals with 10 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with some of these contracts running until 2032.

The new US-built Ford Mustang Mach E electric car, which arrives here in October and is already ratcheting up hundreds of pre-orders, will be fitted with the SM eye-tracking technology, as will the new Mercedes EQE SUV, making its global launch in a few weeks.

The biggest gain of the past financial year was sealing the exclusive deal with one of the world's biggest component suppliers to the automotive industry, Magna International.

The deal gave Magna a share of Seeing Machines but in return gave the ACT company a straight entry into the Canadian company's global supply chain.

The Mustang Mach E, which is in huge global demand and launches in Australia shortly, uses the Canberra-developed technology. Picture supplied

Magna and Seeing Machines engineers have worked together on a number of projects which have integrated the technology unobtrusively into rear vision mirrors.

The capability to monitor drivers for sleepiness, inattention or distraction and send an alert "activation" when needed is regarded as one of the most important vehicle safety breakthroughs of the past decade. Seeing Machines monitors through its patent-protected eye-tracking algorithms.

Last month, Seeing Machines' heavy vehicle client companies - which include Toll and Ron Finemore's in Australia and dozens more around the world - clocked up a new mark of more than 11 billion kilometres distance covered, all with the Guardian system installed on board.

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