THE SEATSENTRY OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM CAMPAIGN

For NEC and HONDA-ELESYS



Ten years ago, airbags posed a danger to children and small women. Before a federal mandate forced automakers to re-design their airbag safety systems, Phil Rittmueller attended a performance of magician Penn Gillette demonstrating the "Spirit Chair," a prototype stunt prop, designed at the MIT Medialab. The chair could sense Gillette's every movement and it responded with a sound. Rittmueller hit on the idea such a sensor could be used for automotive safety, sensing the movements and size of a baby, small adult or adult. The SeatSentry system was born.



We launched SeatSenry to the government, automakers and the general public through demonstrations, trade shows and a lot of media coverage. Our focus was on protecting people with an extremely clever, high tech product.

The SeatSentry system has been a huge success. Since its roll out, NEC launched a new joint-venture with Honda, to form Honda-Elesys North America. Millions of SeatSentry systems are now installed in Honda and GM vehicles.