| PhotoSense, Inc. a new company recently launched by the Boston University Photonics Center is already an award-winning venture. "Smart Seat," an automotive safety device designed to prevent inappropriate and dangerous deployment of automobile air bags was chosen for this year's SPIE Smart Structures Product Implementation Award.
The simple, low-cost "Smart Seat" sensor provides information that can be used to control the intensity with which an air bag safety device is deployed in an accident. At present, automobile airbags deployed at full force can seriously injure children and adults of small stature. The "Smart Seat" sensor, embedded in the automobile seat, tracks the presence, weight and position of a passenger and relays this vital information to the airbag deployment controller. This invention enables the next generation of "smart airbag" systems for automotive safety. The "Smart Seat" is currently undergoing evaluation in concert with several automotive corporations.
Smart skin technology which enables the "Smart Seat," developed by Dr. James Hubbard and Dr. Shawn E. Burke, deputy director of the Photonics Center, is also being configured for diverse commercial applications including patient monitoring and physical rehabilitation in addition to automotive passenger safety. |
