Imagine your car could tell when you're tired, distracted, or frustrated — just by watching your face and hands. FANCI built a compact computer system that combines a camera, microphone, and sensors to read eye movements, hand gestures, head position, and even voice tone, all at once. Think of it like giving your car dashboard the ability to "see" and "understand" you, so it can warn you or adjust controls automatically. The team packaged all of this into a small, low-cost chip platform that car makers and gadget developers can plug into their products.
By the numbers
EUR 1,918,000
EU contribution for developing multimodal sensing platform
7
consortium partners combining industry and academic expertise
6
countries represented in the development consortium
86%
industry partners in the consortium
4
SMEs involved in the project
28 months
project development duration
~EUR 2.5M
total estimated project budget
The business problem
What needed solving
Cars and machines still rely on buttons, touchscreens, and manual controls that take the operator's eyes off the road or task. Distracted driving alone causes thousands of accidents yearly, and new EU regulations now require driver monitoring systems in all new vehicles. Companies need compact, affordable sensing technology that can read faces, gestures, and attention levels in real time — without building it from scratch.
The solution
What was built
FANCI delivered two key products: (1) an automotive application demonstrator running a multimodal prototype module combining face analysis, eye tracking, emotion detection, gesture recognition, and voice tone analysis; and (2) a developer reference platform with board, drivers, algorithm libraries, API, and integrated demonstration of all FANCI algorithms. Six deliverables in total were completed.
Audience
Who needs this
Automotive OEMs adding driver monitoring systems to meet EU safety regulationsTier-1 automotive suppliers developing cockpit sensing modulesConsumer electronics companies building gesture-controlled smart devicesWorkplace safety providers monitoring operator fatigue in industrial settingsRobotics companies adding natural human-machine interaction to their products
Business applications
Who can put this to work
Automotive
enterprise
Target: Car manufacturers and Tier-1 automotive suppliers building driver monitoring systems
If you are an automotive OEM or Tier-1 supplier struggling to meet upcoming EU driver monitoring regulations — FANCI developed a multimodal reference platform that combines face analysis, eye tracking, emotion detection, and gesture recognition into one embedded module. The system was validated with a working automotive demonstrator built by a consortium of 7 partners across 6 countries. It comes with an API and algorithm libraries ready for integration into cockpit electronics.
Consumer Electronics
mid-size
Target: Smart device and wearable manufacturers adding gesture and face interaction
If you are a consumer electronics company looking to add natural user interfaces to your products without building from scratch — FANCI created a developer reference platform with board, drivers, algorithm libraries, and API. The platform supports face analysis, hand gesture recognition, and head pose tracking on a low-cost, power-optimised embedded design. With 86% of the consortium being industry partners, the platform was designed for commercial product integration from day one.
If you are a safety technology provider needing to detect fatigue or distraction in heavy machinery operators — FANCI built sensor fusion technology that estimates user intention and distraction from facial expressions, eye tracking, and body posture in real time. The system was developed as an Innovation Action with EUR 1,918,000 in EU funding and includes both visual and haptic feedback capabilities. The embedded design means it can be fitted into existing operator cabins.
Frequently asked
Quick answers
What would it cost to license or integrate this technology?+
FANCI was funded as an Innovation Action with EUR 1,918,000 in EU contribution (approximately EUR 2.5 million total budget). Licensing terms would need to be negotiated with the coordinator CEVA D.S.P. LTD, a specialized DSP chip company based in Israel. As an industry-led consortium with 4 SMEs, commercial licensing pathways were likely planned from the start.
Can this scale to mass production for automotive or consumer products?+
The project specifically targeted a low-cost, power-optimised reference design for embedded products. The developer reference platform includes board designs, drivers, and algorithm libraries with API — all built for volume manufacturing. CEVA, the coordinator, is itself a semiconductor IP company supplying designs for mass-market chips.
Who owns the intellectual property?+
IP is distributed among the 7 consortium partners across 6 countries (BE, CH, DE, IL, IT, SE). CEVA D.S.P. LTD coordinated the project and likely holds key platform IP. Specific licensing arrangements would need to be discussed with the individual partners depending on which component you need.
Does this meet upcoming EU driver monitoring regulations?+
FANCI was completed in 2017, before the EU General Safety Regulation mandating driver drowsiness and attention warning systems. However, the technology directly addresses these requirements with eye tracking, face analysis, and distraction estimation. The automotive demonstrator validates the core capabilities regulators now require.
How long would integration take?+
The project ran for 28 months and delivered a complete developer reference platform with API and example demonstrations. For companies with existing embedded product lines, integration could leverage the provided algorithm libraries and drivers. The API-based architecture was designed to reduce integration effort for software developers.
What sensors and hardware does this require?+
The platform combines multiple sensor modalities — camera for face and gesture analysis, microphone for voice tone, and additional sensors for body tracking. Based on available project data, the reference design was optimised for low cost and low power consumption on embedded hardware. The developer platform includes the complete board design.
Is there ongoing support or has the project ended?+
FANCI closed in April 2017. However, CEVA D.S.P. LTD continues as a major semiconductor IP company, and several consortium partners remain active in computer vision and automotive sensing. The technology has likely evolved through commercial product development since the project ended.
Consortium
Who built it
The FANCI consortium is heavily industry-driven with 6 out of 7 partners from industry (86%) and only 1 university, which is unusual and signals strong commercial intent. The project was coordinated by CEVA D.S.P. LTD, an Israeli semiconductor IP company — a real player in the embedded processor market whose chips end up in billions of devices. With 4 SMEs across 6 countries (Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Sweden), the consortium spans the European automotive and embedded systems value chain. For a business buyer, this means the technology was built by companies that understand product constraints like cost, power, and manufacturability — not just academic research teams.
CEVA D.S.P. LTD is a publicly traded semiconductor IP company based in Israel — their business development team can be reached through their corporate website
Want an introduction to the FANCI consortium for licensing the driver monitoring platform or integrating their gesture recognition API? SciTransfer can arrange a direct meeting with the right technical contacts.
