Polestar plans to demonstrate its Smart Eye driver monitoring technology in January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Polestar’s Smart Eye technology is designed using two closed-loop premium driver monitoring cameras that track head, eye, and eyelid movements and trigger warning sounds or messages, or even go as far as bringing the car to a stop if the system detects a distracted, drowsy, or disconnected driver. Smart Eye, in conjunction with other standard Driver Assistance features like Lane Keeping, Adaptive Cruise Control, and more, helps to keep drivers safe.
Smart Eye and @PolestarCars will demonstrate the Polestar 3 #DMS, designed to help avoid accidents and save lives, at CES 2023 in Las Vegas!
The Polestar 3 will be on display in Smart Eye’s booth (#6353) in the West Hall. See you there!
Read more: https://t.co/9bNW1xJl17 pic.twitter.com/i4Hqa2fBjO
— Smart Eye (@SmartEyeAB) December 15, 2022
Polestar plans to display to visitors how the Smart Eye system utilizes AI software to detect driver attentiveness in real time and how it tracks head and eye movements to determine if an operator is paying attention and engaged in driving behaviors.
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“This technology addresses some of the main reasons behind fatal accidents and can help save lives by prompting the driver to refocus attention on the road – and can initiate preventive action when they don’t, or can’t,” Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar’s CEO, said.
The development of driver monitoring systems has helped decrease instances of distracted driving. The technology is advantageous in multiple applications, especially as semi-autonomous driving systems and more advanced ADAS systems have come to the market.
In vehicles not equipped with semi-autonomous driving functionality, driver monitoring systems can help keep drivers’ eyes on the road and off of things like cell phones, which are a leading cause of distracted driving accidents in the United States. The NHTSA said 3,142 people were killed due to distracted driving in 2020.
The systems are also hugely effective in cars that feature semi-autonomous driving. Although these systems allow drivers to relinquish certain responsibilities like speed control or lane keeping, they are not fully autonomous and still require the operator’s attention. Unfortunately, some drivers take advantage of these features and use them irresponsibly, which is where systems like Smart Eye will come in.
Polestar is not the first and will certainly not be the last automaker to employ these systems to keep drivers safe. Tesla activated cabin-facing cameras to monitor driver behavior in mid-2020. General Motors has driver monitoring systems for its Super Cruise system. Ford also has driver monitoring for its BlueCruise. Lucid has driver monitoring as a primary focus of its DreamDrive suite. It’s only a matter of time before more automakers adopt camera or AI-based driver monitoring systems.
Ford Blue Cruise and GM Super Cruise lauded in Consumer Reports’ driver monitoring rankings
Generally, driver monitoring systems help keep drivers safe. They are more effective than things like steering wheel sensors as they can be cheated with various methods, including vehicle-specific cheat devices. Educating drivers on how the systems work and how they keep operators accountable is essential. Polestar’s demonstration will likely lead to a better understanding of how technology and AI can lead to safer roads.
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Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
Tesla unlocks in-car web conferencing to extend Google Meet, Teams and beyond
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
