Beyond Detection: Intervention Approaches in Driver State Monitoring Systems

Driver state monitoring systems (DSMS) – technologies that detect driver impairment and provide interventions – are becoming crucial components of driving safety technology. However, despite plentiful research on impairment detection, literature on corresponding interventions is limited. To gain insight into technology-based risk prevention and mitigation approaches to driver impairment, we review the state of the art in solutions targeting stress, fatigue, and cognitive load. We systematically analyze the latest literature published in two technology databases between 2017 and 2022. We first provide a general summary of reviewed studies, quantifying trends in technical, HCI, and methodological characteristics and additionally focus on user-evaluated solutions. Overall, we observe a general focus on fatigue and a prevalence of simple binary alerts. We report that only a minority of solutions are user-evaluated, although these exhibit greater diversity both in terms of the impairments they target and the methods they employ. Our findings show that the field offers extensive possibilities, although the proposed solutions are mainly in early developmental stages. Ultimately, we evaluate possible intervention approaches, identify the gaps, and provide guidelines to support future research.