The Silicon Review ^Asia

Microsoft recently announced its latest project called Harnessing AutoMobiles for Safety (HAMS) in India. The new project makes use of artificial intelligence to automate and improve the driver’s license tests.  Project HAMS is being deployed in Dehradun, a north Indian state of Uttrakhand, and it is expected to replace an evaluator/trainer with a smartphone. A survey conducted by SaveLIFE Foundation showed that almost 59 percent of the respondents did not attend a driving test to receive their license. The driving test is a massive problem in India because citizens often search for loopholes to get their licenses.

 Venkat Padmanabhan, Deputy Managing Director, Microsoft Research India stated that one of the significant challenges in the conventional driver’s license test is the burden an evaluator has to carry, but with HAMS technology evaluators can be relieved a bit, and this will allow the evaluator to make the process objective more transparent for candidates. The main objective of HAMS is to deliver a simplified driving test process while paving a broad way for innovation. HAMS collects data points while making use of the smartphone docked in the windshield, and it makes use of sensors and cameras to monitor the road conditions.