
Tesla Model 3 is equipped with a driver-facing camera - prostoalex
https://electrek.co/2017/08/01/tesla-model-3-driver-facing-camera-autopilot-tesla-network/
======
mi100hael
_> Some might be concerned about privacy. It’s something that the MIT research
addressed. The collected data was kept on secure servers and people could
never need to actually watch the footage._

Yeah, because a system like that has _never_ before been compromised... ಠ_ಠ

~~~
gtirloni
That's the kind of argument they have to make to the general public. What else
could they say to justify the technological need for that camera to be there?
People in general don't respond to facts most of the time. It's a fear-based
concern and they are saying "there there, it will be fine". And it works.

[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-
dont-...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-
our-minds)

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IncRnd
And, that camera will be the first thing covered after a purchase, just like
cameras on a laptop.

[https://smile.amazon.com/Webcam-Cover-Laptops-Pad-
Devices/dp...](https://smile.amazon.com/Webcam-Cover-Laptops-Pad-
Devices/dp/B004Z0XSY6)

~~~
vanattab
Until the car doesn't start or "auto pilot" features don't work because the
car's ai does not detect an "alert human" at the wheel?

~~~
simonebrunozzi
Here, a good idea of a product to sell on Amazon.com : a device that, applied
to the camera, makes it think it's looking at the driver, while instead it's
looking at some fake footage.

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super_mario
My Mercedes E550 has it too, and it is used for drowsiness detection. The car
suggests you should take a break if you look tired or like you will fall
asleep. I have had warning to stop and take a break come on only once and I
was indeed incredibly tired.

~~~
hangonhn
Wow, I rented a MB once and it did that, which was absolutely the right call.
The thing was that I initially ignored it and thought MB used a timer or
something but 15 minutes later, I became aware of it and it was quite acute by
the time I was aware of it.

I've always wondered how it knew that.

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cbhl
This seems like a great solution to the problem of driver distraction, except
that most face-detection algorithms are biased (they work best on "white"
people, and poorly on just about any other race/skin type).

We definitely should fix that before restricting access to a feature based on
where your face is looking.

~~~
dingo_bat
At least Google photos seems to work done with Indian faces. No recognition
problems and even classifies photos by people. It even recognised my photo in
which I was 3 years old.

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mjsweet
When I sleep I slump over almost into a fetal position. It's never comfortable
for me to sleep in a car. My Mrs on the other hand appears to be awake and
sitting up, the only subtle clue is a slight bobbing of the head if her
sunglasses are on. I wonder how engagement detection would work in her case?
There have been many times I have been having a grand old chat with her as I
am driving and in my periphery and she is sound asleep. I predict that she
could easily fool the system unto thinking she is awake.

~~~
gtirloni
Drowsiness detection with OpenCV

[http://www.pyimagesearch.com/2017/05/08/drowsiness-
detection...](http://www.pyimagesearch.com/2017/05/08/drowsiness-detection-
opencv/)

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majormjr
You wont own a Model 3, Tesla only lets you drive it around.

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pdog
Here you go:

[https://www.amazon.com/EL7566-AW-Synthetic-Rubber-
Electrical...](https://www.amazon.com/EL7566-AW-Synthetic-Rubber-Electrical-
Black/dp/B000TPEHMS/)

~~~
falcolas
Plain old scotch tape works stupidly well too.

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sixQuarks
I see more value in being able to see who's riding in the car and if they're
doing any damage while my car is in use as a taxi.

~~~
FRex
For that a normal non-Musk camera will do just as well, not a hidden camera
that will come on on its own after an unspecified update Tesla does remotely
and then steam video to their servers.

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jamesred
Theoretically it could be a good anti-theft device where certain facial
profiles would only be allowed to access the vehicle.

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djrogers
Seems like this might be a good hedge against potential regulation. I could
easily see some states or even a federal regulation or law requiring that
level III autonomous cars have some sort of driver attention monitoring
system.

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Animats
Well, you have to have surveillance coverage when people aren't looking at
their phone and are away from their Samsung TV and Microsoft XBox 360.

 _" If you see something, say something."_

~~~
hedora
"If you see something, say nothing and drink to forget."

[https://topatoco.com/collections/wtnv/products/cpb-wtnv-
sees...](https://topatoco.com/collections/wtnv/products/cpb-wtnv-seesomething-
flask)

(No affiliation, just a fan of the podcast)

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MBCook
Is this really that surprising? The article mentions what I would expect: it's
likely to be used for tracking how engaged the driver is in the future.

I'm a little surprised that's not in there today.

Alternate theory: do we know what it's actually looking at? Could it be used
to put a few of the back seat on the touchscreen so the driver can check on
the kids easily? A number of cars these days have small mirrors up by the
sunglass holder to allow drivers to do this.

~~~
scott_karana
The backseat cam is a valid potential use case, but I'm surprised they
wouldn't have put that on the larger S or X, if so. ;)

~~~
MBCook
Perhaps it wasn't ready and will be going into future revisions.

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khed
I cancelled my model 3 reservation over this. I found it very sleazy this
wasn't mentioned in the official reveal.

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alex-
Could the model 3 be a very expensive video conferencing platform?

~~~
IncRnd
We are all being phished to purchase an extremely expensive camera.

~~~
alex-
The future of meetings: starting them in SF and ending them in Tahoe. Maybe
it's a cheap video conferencing platform :)

~~~
IncRnd
Drats, another new platform. Now I need to worry about the adapter problem,
again...

