Human-Aware Intelligent Systems

Abstract
Human-Aware Intelligent Systems, that interact naturally with a human-inhabited environment, represent the next frontier of information technology. They extract information related to humans and their activities from sensor data, perform decision making, and act to make human living more safe, comfortable and entertaining.

The talk covers research in this area at Daimler R&D and the Univ. of Amsterdam focusing on visual perception and machine learning. I discuss probabilistic temporal models, the role of data, and systems in the context of 2D pedestrian detection, 3D human pose recovery, and human aggression estimation.

Smart Cars for Safe Driving

Abstract
One of the most significant large-scale deployment of intelligent systems in our daily life nowadays involves driver assistance in smart cars. Driver
assistance systems use sensors to monitor the car surroundings or interior. They warn the driver in case of pending danger, and even act automatically if necessary. As such, they have major potential to reduce accidents. 

My talk starts with an overview of commercially available driver assistance in Mercedes-Benz cars. Thereafter, I focus on our longstanding research on active pedestrian protection. I present results from driving in urban traffic and on the test track, including a prototype system for automatic vehicle braking and evasive steering.

Smart Cars for Safe Pedestrians

Abstract

One of the most significant large-scale deployment of intelligent systems in our daily life nowadays involves driver assistance in smart cars. The past decade has seen a steady increase of interest in the plight of the vulnerable road users (e.g. pedestrians, bicyclists), motivated by accident statistics, and accentuated by regulatory and consumer rating initiatives. Devising an effective driver assistance system for vulnerable road users has long been impeded, however, by the "perception bottleneck", i.e. not being able to detect and localize vulnerable road users sufficiently accurate. In this talk, I give an overview of the remarkable research progress that has been achieved in this area. I discuss its main enablers and highlight future developments, on the road towards accident-free driving.

See my keynote talk  “Smart Cars for Safe Pedestrians” at the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles conference 2012, June 5, 2012.