Feel sad, drive fast: Artificial intelligence lets your car respond to how you feel

Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the creation of their development kit for R-Car, that takes advantage of the 'emotion engine' AI.

The new development kit enables cars to read the driver's emotions and optimally respond to the driver's needs based on their emotional state.

The development kit includes cocoro SB's emotion engine, which leverages sensibility technology to recognise emotional states such as confidence or uncertainty based on the driver's voice.

Since it is possible for the car to understand the driver's words and emotional state, it can provide the appropriate response that ensures optimal driver safety.

As this technology is linked to AI based machine learning, it is possible for the car to learn from conversations with the driver.

Renesas plans to release the development kit later this year.

The AI considers the driver's emotional state, facial expression and eyesight direction as key information that combines with the driver's vital signs to improve the car to driver interface.

This AI is placing drivers closer to the era of self-driving cars.

Furthermore, understanding the driver's emotions enables the car to control vehicle speed according to how the driver is feeling.

By providing carmakers and IT companies with the development kit that takes advantage of this emotion engine, Renesas hopes to expand the possibilities for this AI and to the develop new interfaces between cars and drivers.

Renesas Electronics Corporation delivers embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live.

The company is the number one global supplier of microcontrollers, and a leader in analogue power and SoC products.

Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, home electronics, office automation and information communication technology applications to help shape a limitless future.

The idea that a car could one day read the way a driver is feeling is in equal parts frightening and logical.

On one hand, it is a bit unnerving to think that the car will be able to take control away if it senses momentary unease, as this feeling may be caused by many things.

Yet, I can also see overwhelmingly positive applications for this AI, limiting how fast a driver can go if they are angry or heartbroken.

Integrating this AI with other self-driving features could lead to an intelligent vehicle unlike anything we've seen before.