Canberra-based company Seeing Machines has received a US$65 milllion (A$101 million) investment through an exclusive deal with a Canadian-based global car and parts maker to put its technology into future vehicles.
Signing the deal with Magna International, which describes itself as a "mobility technology company", will put the ACT-developed driver monitoring technology behind rear vision mirrors, where tiny, integrated cameras will use the Seeing Machines' algorithm to scan drivers' eyes for signs of fatigue and distraction.
Car makers are rushing to sign deals like this because new safety regulations are coming into force in Europe in 2024 making fatigue and distraction-detecting technology mandatory on all new vehicles.
Magna International, which has engineering and sales operations in 27 countries and 342 manufacturing operations of various sizes, is also a bespoke contract vehicle and automotive parts manufacturer with a huge, highly flexible car-making plant in Graz, Austria.
The company is regarded as highly innovative, with the modular systems at Graz capable of producing production runs from 5000 cars to 50,000. Separately, Magna also provides automotive parts and systems to a huge range of manufacturers, including Ford and General Motors.
Some of the best-known cars produced at Graz recently include the BMW Z4, Mercedes G-Wagen 4WD, Jaguar I-Pace and Toyota Supra.
The deal potentially will put the technologym, which had its humble beginnings in a laboratory at the Australian National University, behind the rear-view mirrors of hundreds of thousands of vehicles built by Magna, and potentially into millions more through the company's global parts supply contracts.
Magna has the option of converting US$47.5 million of its investment capital into a 9.9 per cent shareholding of Seeing Machines at any time during the four-year contract.
Seeing Machines' managing director Paul McGlone said the Magna investment would provide the funding needed to deliver on the company's business plan "and we look forward to focusing on achieving significant growth across each of our target transport sectors".
Putting its tech into more heavy vehicles and aircraft cockpits is also on the Seeing Machines agenda, with the company in a tie-up with Collins Aerospace, the world's largest supplier of avionics equipment.
Magna has viewed the Seeing Machines tie-up as a means to get ahead of the competition before the new vehicle safety requirements are mandated.
In a statement, the senior vice president of Magna Electronics, Sharath Reddy, said that as driver monitoring systems start to become more standard, "we [Magna] see a lot of potential to lead the change".
"Our solution addresses growing automaker challenges associated with managing vehicle electronics integration and cost, with the need for seamless camera packaging across a diverse line of vehicle models," he said.
Within five years, all vehicles built for western markets will be required to be equipped with a range of what is known as ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), of which the ability to detect driver fatigue or distraction - and send an alert - will be a part.
Australian Automobile Association research has found that distraction is the primary cause of about 16 per cent of serious road accidents but the real number may well be much higher.
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