Evil motorists who skip tolls and use blow-up dolls to ride in the car sharing lane might soon be foiled by a new detection system, called Dtect. The tech can count the number of humans in a car to a high degree of accuracy, using a mixture of infra red beams and visible light detection.
Infra red light in the 1550 nanometre wavelength is shone into the car. The light is absorbed by human skin, but little else. This is then compared with visible light in the red part of the spectrum, which is reflected by skin. If the shapes match, you have a live one. And because the system uses infrared, it works at night.
The inventor, John Tyrer of Loughborough University in (where else) the UK, claims 95% accuracy. Trials are already underway in Scotland, and researchers in Texas are interested. The Dtect will have to catch a lot of people to pay for itself, though. The asking price is £96,000 ($195,000.
Product page [Vehicle Occupancy via New Scientist]
