The safety of air traffic can be improved through continuous monitoring of the stress level of pilots and crew members
Ottawa, Canada (PRWEB) April 02, 2015
According to the results of the investigation “The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing an aircraft ... had been treated in the past for suicidal tendencies” (ABC News, Australia, 31 March 2015). I.e. the cause of the crash of Flight 4U 9525 was the inadequate mental condition of the co-pilot. This tragedy has exposed a critical problem: the lack of control of the emotional and psychological state of the flight crew. This is a problem when passengers entrust their lives to the actions of one person.
The Russian developers of the Emvio smartwatch have sent a letter to the company Lufthansa, as well as a number of major carriers, with a proposal to improve the safety of air traffic through continuous monitoring of the level of stress pilots and crew members.
Russian-Canadian biomedical startup Darta Systems has developed over the past two years a technique for continuous stress measurement by analyzing heart rate variability. This technology is embodied in their Emvio wearable device. This watch could inform the owner or, in this case, persons responsible for the flight when pilots begin to experience increased stress for a long time at a high level. Chronic stress depletes the body's resources and leads to a deterioration of reflexes, well-being, and mental state; it is important to recognize stress at an early stage.
After the company announced its Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/1DwOl1w), they have received a lot of feedback from people who supported the project to consider the application of the technology embodied in Emvio, on air transport. Emvio developers hope airline authorities will react to their proposal, and if there is enough interest, the Emvio can be fine-tuned to the specific requirements of the airline industry.
About Darta Systems: Darta Systems is a biomedical start-up with offices in Ottawa and Moscow that has been working on Emvio for 2 years now. Their research team is composed of both established biomedical engineers and doctoral candidates from the Ryazan State Radio Engineering and Ryazan State Medical Universities. CEO Valery Kuryshev is the co-creator of the Emvio Watch; before Emvio, he managed biomedical engineering businesses for eight years and earlier was a key player in developing other biofeedback devices. This is their first Kickstarter campaign. More information about EMVIO can be found on their homepage.