As health concerns rise, car gadgets proliferate

The Tata Pad by Filo, a smart baby car seat alarm to alert when a child is left in a vehicle, is displayed during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada

With personal health a rising priority around the world, the auto industry is on the hunt for new gadgets and accessories to make the car cockpit feel safer for the driver and passengers.

Items on display at this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) include air purifiers, car seat alarms and intelligent sun visors.

The French auto supplier's wares at CES include devices to monitor drivers' attention and air filters and systems that allow personalized climate controls for passengers. 

CabinAir and Marelli also showcased car air purification systems that could be installed inside the cockpit or in a cup holder.

The latest generation of technologies comes after earlier efforts focused initially on the trucking industry, where lengthy periods behind the wheel marred physical health, said Carla Bailo, head of the Center for Automotive Research.

- Alerting parents -

The Italian startup Filo developed an alarm system for children's car seats following a law in its home country intended to prevent kids from being left in the car on hot days.

"With the hecticness of life, stress, et cetera, sadly, it happens more than we would like to admit that parents actually have on occasion lapsed... and they leave their children in the car," said Rudolf Jantos, who works in marketing for Filo.

Other child-protection devices employ cameras, radars, vibration detection and weight sensors, said Mike Ramsay, a specialist in auto technology at consultancy Gartner. 

These new devices have also been boosted by the rise of autonomous driving systems, which employ cameras and radars, said Jacques Aschenbroich, chief executive of Valeo.

At CES, Bosch demonstrated its "Virtual Visor," a transparent screen which detects the position of the driver's eyes thanks to an internal camera and can darken only the portion of the windshield through which the sun would bother the driver, leaving the rest unobstructed.

"There's a fine line between 'we're trying to keep you safe, we're trying to keep you healthy,' and 'we're watching what you're doing.'"

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