Optalert's commitment to being the thought leaders of fatigue management and fatigue management technology are currently involved in a number of collaborative research projects:
Monash University – School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine
Titled – An investigation of drowsiness while driving in hospital night shift workers and sleep disorder patients: The Monash drowsy driving study.
Monash University will begin a pilot study using a portable version of the Optalert research system to investigate the drowsiness levels of shift workers during their daily drive to and from work. This research could provide objective evidence of the impact of shift work on driver fatigue and crash risk.
Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland (CARRS-Q)
Titled – Objective Sleepiness predicts performance on a hazard perception simulator task.
Over the last 2 years CARRS-Q has used Optalert in their research to objectively measure the impact of sleepiness on a driver’s hazard perception skill. This is the first study to demonstrate a relationship between drowsiness and performance on a hazard perception test. This research showed that drowsiness directly impacts on the hazard perception of drivers, particularly in the early morning hours and is clearly a potential contributor to road crashes.
These findings were presented at the International Conference on Fatigue Management in Transportation Operations, Boston Massachusetts, March 2009.
VIC Roads – Harvard University, VIC Police, Monash University, IBAS Austin Hospital, Swinburne University, TWU & Linfox
Titled – Assessing Ocular Technology in Alertness & Fatigue
Professor Philip Swan of Vic Roads has commissioned various research centres to investigate the effects of drugs (benzodiazepines, amphetamines, alcohol) and fatigue on the JDS. The implication of this research is that Optalert could be used to detect the presence of drugs and/or fatigue in drivers via a road-side test or fitness-for-duty application.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF): Institute of Aviation Medicine (AVMED)
Titled – A Drowsiness detection System for Pilots
Optalert has worked with AVMED since January 2007 to develop a portable version of the Optalert vehicle system for use in the aviation industry. A proof-of-concept trial was performed in a dynamic flight simulator configured to a PC9 aircraft and concluded that Optalert has the potential to be included in aircrew fatigue risk management systems. Findings were published in the Journal of Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, February 2009.
Stockholm University – Stress Research Institute
Titled – The role of fatigue in road and industrial safety
The Stress Research Institute is part of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Stockholm University and is a national knowledge centre focusing on stress reactions and health. The institute has used Optalert in studies monitoring the drowsiness of truck drivers after sleep deprivation.
Bordeaux University – The Neurosciences Institute
Titled – The effects of sleep deprivation and drugs on sleep, cognition and the ability to drive
Professor Pierre Philip of the Auditory, Sleep and Cognition Research Centre has used Optalert in a variety of studies investigating the effects of drugs on sleep, cognition and driving ability. Optalert has also been used to monitor drowsiness levels in sleep deprived subjects during freeway driving.
Vrije University Brussels – Department of Psychology
Titled – Objective monitoring of drowsiness during prolonged on-road driving
Professor Raymond Cluyts is proposing to conduct an on-road study using Optalert to objectively monitor the drowsiness levels of drivers during a prolonged 800 km drive.
