AI, Connected Systems and Autonomous Vehicles to Benefit from Biometric Technologies

One of the most technologically stimulating applications of biometrics concerns the recent entry of major modalities in the automotive market (with iris, face, and fingerprint recognition among the prevailing ones). As examined in a recent ABI Research Transformative Horizon report, biometric technologies are set to enhance traditional infotainment, health monitoring, security, and authentication systems in the sector.

One of the major takeaways of the research is that the introduction of biometrics will effectively bring the connected car another step closer to realizing its full potential in the IoT era while empowering both the human element and AI systems. Health monitoring and infotainment systems are also expected to lead in terms of implementations while AI virtual assistants and behavioral recognition while dominate among top vendors in the future.

Research findings are greatly aligned with predictions from similar future-looking transformative horizon reports including PT-1653, PT-1668 and PT-1657. More specifically, 1) the rapidly evolving nature of biometrics in commercial and government applications, 2) the transition towards a car-sharing economy, 3) the rise of autonomous vehicles, and 4) the dawn of smart cities count among the key drivers for the advent of biometrics in the automotive market.

Contrary to enterprise, banking, and consumer markets in which biometrics (and primarily fingerprint recognition) deal almost exclusively with user authentication, the automotive space is a very unique beast, and one that is highly absorbent of complementary technologies. ABI Research predicts eight distinct use case scenarios where biometrics will ultimately enhance automotive offerings. The initial four concern the first wave of applications. This is where the main focus from large car OEMs, AI and machine learning developers, and biometrics vendors will be. These include: 1)infotainment systems and personalization; 2) vehicle access and security; 3) health, wellness, and wellbeing (HWW), human-machine interface (HMI), and in-cabin advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS); and 4) car-sharing and ride-hailing. Infotainment and personalization, HWW, and in-cabin ADAS are expected to lead in implementations within the next 4 years.

Further, ABI Research has identified a secondary application cluster which deals with the next wave of biometric implementations. These applications are highly dependent upon neighboring technologies (such as machine learning and secure encryption in the IoT) and include: 1) smart cities and in-car payments, 2) artificial intelligence and behaviorally powered virtual assistants, 3) IoT data exchange and machine learning training, and 4) biometrically audited, custom-fitted insurance.

The majority of the aforementioned use cases will greatly enhance current automotive systems, providing both drivers and passengers with additional authentication, personalization, and safety features. AI developers are hard at work creating fresh SDK products that will allow car OEMs to transform the driving experience in the near future. A few innovative products include:

• Nuance’s Dragon Drive suite featuring a cognitive arbitrator upgrade (gaze and behavioral AI combination for cognitive navigation)
• Texas Instruments in-cabin radar and cameras for a highly sophisticated take on HWW (heart rate, breathing, distraction, and fatigue detection)
• NVidia’s leveraging of its GPUs for advanced deep learning and natural language processing (gesture control and voice recognition)

However, just because an infotainment or HWW (health, wellness, and wellbeing) SDK (Software Development Kit) features a sophisticated AI does not mean that it is biometrically ready—far from it. On top of the gateway and processing power upgrades required by these new systems, there will be the need to further increase the sensor capacity and all related hardware components in modern cars. This will force OEMs to upgrade the sensing capabilities in connected vehicles which, in short, includes in-cabin radars, side mirror cameras, face and iris rear-view mirror cameras, dashboard cameras, vital signs monitoring car seat sensors, even potentially in-cabin fingerprint or finger-vein sensors and gait-recognition ADAS in sensors outside the vehicle.

ABI Research expects biometrically empowered infotainment, personalization, HWW, and in-cabin ADAS to lead in implementations within for the next 4 years. These implementations will initially originate in the luxury and executive vehicle market segments. While leading software developers have already infused their SDKs with biometric capabilities, it is the car OEMs that will ultimately decide how the market will evolve. Aggressive implementations will have biometrics in automotive becoming mainstream within 5 years. However, given how many manufacturers (and developers) are still honing their skills on the matter, a more realistic prediction would be on the 7-year mark. Large OEMs like GM, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Toyota are expected to drive innovation, and biometric applications by car-sharing and car-hailing companies will kickstart implementations in the consumer vehicle market.