Mint is chosen for driver alert
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• Sleepy WV drivers could be waking up to a minty surprise by the end of the decade courtesy of a sleep-detecting cab computer now being tested in Tokyo by Nissan.
The computer monitors the rate of drivers' eye blinks through a tiny dashboard camera to see if they are keeping them shut for too long. If they are it wakens them with a blast from a buzzer, then squirts a minty smell into the cab's air conditioning.
"We looked at two criteria," says Nissan. "Effectiveness at waking them up and effectiveness at keeping them awake. After one minute, peppermint is about 15% better."
Nissan has covered all the angles. It has tested mint against lemon, jasmine and lavender and even fitted an infra red light that works in the dark without destroying drivers' night vision.
The device is expected to cost a few hundred pounds but one detail Nissan hasn't sorted out yet is how to refill it.