In-Vehicle Driver Detection Using Mobile Phone Sensors

With the advances in smartphone technologies, automated detection and awareness of various user statuses has become a focal point of mobile computing research. In this project, I present a software-based, mobile-phone sensing system to determine if the user is the driver or a passenger in an automobile. The system helps the mobile device’s identify the user’s available attention and focus, enabling it to control delivery of potentially interrupting events such as incoming calls and messages. Since the system does not employ additional hardware, the phone may be carried in different locations and orientations. In addition, the paper will describe the various design challenges, including the evaluation of the system’s energy consumption and operation in noisy environments using the Android 2.3.x and iPhone OS 4.x devices.