Steer: This Wearable Driving Aid Will Shock You Every Time You Fall Asleep

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Ever fallen asleep behind the wheel while you’re driving? Yeah, it’s a scary thought – one that’s bound to happen to most people at one time or another. From blasting loud music to overdosing on coffee to chewing on chili peppers, different people have different solutions when trying to keep themselves awake on long drives. Steer offers a new alternative.

A wearable device, the rig straps down to your wrist and keeps constant tabs on your drowsiness level, allowing it to detect whenever you’re at risk of falling asleep behind the wheel. When it does, it attempts to bring you back to consciousness by sending an electric shock (yes, really), essentially becoming an alarm of sorts to ensure you’re suitably awake enough to drive at all times.

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Steer uses an array of 16 sensors that measure a driver’s heart rate and skin conductance, similar to those used in polygraph machines. When initially switched on, the device will record your normal levels for those two conditions during the first minute, which it uses as the baseline to determine whether you’re getting dizzy, falling asleep, or functioning normally. After that, it will perform a check every two seconds, ensuring it will always detect when you’re starting to get dizzy just in time to send you a warning.

When the device detects a dip in your heart rate by at least 10 units, it takes that as an indication that you’re starting to get dizzy, which triggers the device to vibrate strongly while turning on a yellow LED light. If that doesn’t quite wake you up and your heart rate further slips while your skin conductance dips as well, it will then send a gentle electric shock to jolt you back into an awake state.

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According to its creators, the gentle shock from Steer should increase your body’s serotonin, noradrenaline, and cortisol levels, all while decreasing its melatonin levels, immediately making you feel fresher and less drowsy, essentially waking you up. That means, you’ll never have to be wary of falling asleep at any time behind the wheel, since you have a veritable watchdog keeping an eye on you the whole time.

The actual device measures 2.6 x 1.6 x 0.4 inches, so it looks like an extremely oversized timepiece. Actually, it looks a bit like Sphero’s BB8 Wristband Controller, so it looks like you’ve got a toy strapped to your wrist while wearing the darn thing. Yes, it’s not the kind of thing you’ll want to wear regularly. Fortunately, you only really have to put it on whenever you’re driving, so the darn thing doesn’t have to ruin an erstwhile nice outfit.

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A 500mAh battery sits inside the device, which, according to the creators, is enough to power it for around two weeks of driving. Do note, that endurance will likely be shorter for those who drive for professional reasons (e.g. cargo truck drivers), although the two weeks should hold up for most average individuals.

A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for Steer. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at €109.

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5 Responses

  1. No, I have not fallen asleep behind the wheel before or come close – it’s called pulling over and resting, or having someone else drive. This is a part of being a responsible adult. If you seriously suffer issues that a device like this would be necessary, then I would highly recommend considering hiring a driver, taking a taxi, or public transportation.
    This device just seems really bizarre, I don’t understand who decided to come up with this product. How about making one of these devices that electrocutes you every time you try to talk on the phone while driving, texting while driving, or putting your foot out the window while driving? Or, how about one that zaps you when you decide you want to chit-chat with passengers or drive with one hand and not pay attention to the road? These to me, in my experiences, seem like the most problematic drivers to date- just my ‘two cents.’ Nobody should have a device like this, but maybe one for truck drivers that work too many hours and don’t follow their work-schedule or driving-limit, and instead of zapping them just have the data sent to the employer or law enforcement – as such behavior would cause a serious risk to public safety.

    1. Personal responsibility is important, but unfortunately, not everyone makes decisions like they should. A product such as this can help keep an irresponsible person from killing one of my responsible loved ones. I agree people should just pull over, but it doesn’t always work that way. If there is not a rest stop or truck stop near by. I have pulled into abandoned parking lots just off the Interstate to catch a nap as I was too tired to drive, but then got harassed by the local police who sent me on my way.\

      This device is very important, even if it only saves one life anything that can save lives is a beneficial product to me.

      Truckers are often forced to drive illegally. If you are caught, it is you that gets in trouble, not the company. If you don;t drive illegally then your loads are slowly cut until you are forced to quit the company. The trucking industry lobbyists are awful people who only care about making the trucking companies more money.

  2. People falling asleep while driving is a major problem. countless needless deaths occur each year when sleepy drivers fall asleep. They not only endanger themselves but also other people driving on the roads. It is also a huge problem among truck drivers who are forced to work as many hours as they can and to lie on their logbooks. If something like this band can keep people from falling asleep then I am all for it.

    1. It does happen among truckers, but more commonly occurs among regular vehicles. Truckers are used to the long hours of driving. Truckers used to lie on their log books a lot, but electronic log books are making this much less common than it used to be. If I owned a transportation oriented company I would look into buying a STEER device for each of my drivers.

    2. A trucker recently fell asleep near Chicago and crashed into at least 10 cars. Luckily nobody died, but there were plenty of inuries. If the STEER Aid would have helped in this situation, then this or a similar device should be mandatory. Trucking companies such as SWIFT and CR England often route their drivers in such a way that they get as little sleep as is legally possible. Truckers should be limited to an 8-hour shift each day.

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