Continental: Driver recognition via camera

Primarily for theft prevention, but also for monitoring the fitness of drivers, the "Driver Identification Display" is intended, which the automotive supplier Continental and trinamiX as a provider of biometric solutions have jointly developed. It is a display with an integrated camera that is not visible to the driver.

Continental promises that the system will function similarly to facial recognition in smartphones. Once installed, a vehicle can only be started if the driver is identified as an authorized user. The technology should also be able to be used for digital payment processes controlled via a touchscreen in the car, such as fueling or paying parking fees. Additional sensors besides the camera hidden in the display would not be required for this.

The system should be able to recognize living skin, so that one cannot simply present a photo or mask of an authorized driver. The supplier does not specify whether a completely different haircut or the removal of a full beard would change the system’s response.

In principle, such a system could also be of interest for driver identification in taxi and rental car operations. However, Continental has not yet addressed how many authorized users can be presented for each vehicle and how they are managed in a fleet. The press release also does not mention whether someone else would be allowed to take the wheel in between or in an emergency, for example, to maneuver a vehicle out of a danger zone.