Big Brother is coming to a supercar near you… According to some patent applications that have been exposed, Ferrari is developing a technology that will allow a car to continuously monitor its driver's physical and mental state of being on a continuous basis.
This is not just some kind of drowsiness detection that alerts you when you're falling asleep, like Merc offers, rather this system will actually adjust the traction and stability control devices in accordance with your psychological and physical condition.
According to the application, the system will collect its data via numerous psychometric and biometric sensors planted throughout the cabin.
These will measure the driver's heart rate, blood pressure and respiration, while a camera will gauge their altertness via the eyes' blink rate.
And there's more - they've even dreamt up a device that can monitor the brain's electric activity and another that can sense the amount of body perspiration. Luckily they also intend to make the sensors as non-invasive as possible.
It also states the reasoning behind such technology. Ferrari is worried about drivers who overestimate their driving ability and psychophysical state and as a result the vehicle performance parameters that they select reflect their desires rather than their actual proficiency at the time.
While this might all sound like Ferrari are trying to put a virtual nanny into your supercar, the application also claims that the system could actually enhance the car's settings for increased driving pleasure when it deems the driver to be alert.
Perhaps a built in espresso dispenser would make a neat addition too?