The collaboration seeks to bring to market a high-performance solution for monitoring the driver and occupants, based on cameras, mmWave radar, and processing on the device itself.
NOVELIC, an innovative company based in Belgrade specialized in mmWave radar solutions, has announced a strategic alliance with Smart Eye, a global leader in driver monitoring systems (DMS) and AI for interior vehicle detection, with the aim of providing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with a comprehensive set of functionalities that meet the upcoming Euro NCAP requirements for monitoring the driver and occupants.
The result will be a scalable and cost-effective solution that combines vision and radar to facilitate integration. Since the software operates entirely on the sensor, only a single CAN-Bus interface with the vehicle is required, eliminating the need for external hardware, LVDS interfaces, and additional computational load on other parts of the vehicle.
The innovative system proposal from NOVELIC and Smart Eye will be presented for the first time at Smart Eye's stand No. 305 at InCabin Europe 2026, in Barcelona. The demonstration will showcase enhanced performance and compliance with relevant safety protocols through the combination of radar and vision technologies.
The award-winning 60 GHz radar technology for monitoring the ACAM cabin from NOVELIC enables robust child presence detection, unaffected by child seats, blankets, or other obstructions, while incorporating additional functionalities such as seat occupancy detection and intrusion/proximity alerts in the same module. ACAM is the most compact and energy-efficient module on the market, facilitating its integration into different types of vehicles.
Smart Eye offers the most comprehensive set of vision-based interior vehicle detection functionalities, providing industry-leading safety features to 24 OEMs and 380 vehicle models.
"Radar is undoubtedly going to be a fundamental part of the high-performance cabin monitoring solutions of the future," stated Dr. Raffaele Soloperto, CBDO of NOVELIC.
"It is what we believed when we started this journey almost a decade ago, and time has proven us right: NOVELIC received awards and nominations last year and this year has begun series production at our facilities. However, the real goal of the sector is to achieve maximum safety, and partnering with the world leader in cabin vision systems is the most effective way to ensure that future vehicles provide reliable and comprehensive coverage of all cases required by Euro NCAP," he added.
"For Smart Eye, the vision combined with radar is key to increasing the performance of cabin monitoring," stated Henrik Lind, Chief Research Officer of Smart Eye.
"Collaborating with NOVELIC allows us to offer it while reducing system costs for OEMs. We are looking forward to advancing as two innovative companies with extensive experience in both software and hardware, not only providing the solution but also the system support that helps Tier 1 and OEMs bring it quickly to the road," he concluded.
The collaboration aims to provide a comprehensive solution for the most important functionalities of detecting driver capability loss and monitoring occupants, based on processing on the device itself to offer OEMs a privacy-respecting, cost-effective, and energy-efficient solution, aimed at meeting the most demanding NCAP safety standards.
About NOVELIC
NOVELIC is a perception systems company based in Belgrade, Serbia. Specializing in mmWave radar technology, NOVELIC develops innovative comfort and safety solutions both inside cabins and in the vehicle environment. ACAM, the company's 60 GHz cabin monitoring module, offers industry-leading performance, the smallest module size, and benchmark energy efficiency. The first-generation module is in series production and is ready to provide industry-leading functionalities for detecting child presence in vehicles worldwide.
Since 2023, NOVELIC has been part of Sona Comstar Group (SONB.NS), a global manufacturer of automotive systems and components based in India.
For more information: www.novelic.com
About Smart Eye
Smart Eye is a leading provider of Human Insight AI, a technology that understands, supports, and predicts human behavior in complex environments. The company's mission is to bridge the gap between people and machines to build a safe and sustainable future.
Backed by Affectiva and iMotions —companies it acquired in 2021— Smart Eye's multimodal software and hardware solutions provide an unprecedented view of human behavior.
In the automotive sector, Smart Eye's driver monitoring systems and in-vehicle detection solutions enhance road safety and the mobility experience. The company's eye-tracking technology and iMotions' biosensor software platform are also used in behavioral research to facilitate advanced research in academic and commercial fields. In the media analysis realm, Affectiva's Emotion AI provides leading brands and market researchers worldwide with deeper insights into how consumers interact with content, products, and services.
Founded in 1999, Smart Eye is a global company based in Sweden, with clients including NASA, Nissan, Boeing, Honeywell, Volvo, GM, BMW, Polestar, Geely, Harvard University, 26% of the Fortune Global 500 companies, and over 1,300 research organizations worldwide.