Cognitive tunneling mitigation device for driving

A method mitigating cognitive tunneling in a vehicle with a driver monitor system, the system comprising at least one in-cabin video camera, a heart rate monitor, an audio-visual device, and processing circuitry, the method comprising:

• detecting, by the processing circuitry, eye gaze direction, eye lid position, and head position using images from the at least one in-cabin video camera;
• determining, by the processing circuitry, heart rate variability using heart rate measured by the heart rate monitor, wherein the heart rate variability is measured as variation in beat-to-beat interval of the heart rate;
• using the eye gaze direction, eye lid position, head position, and heart rate variability to predict, by the processing circuitry, whether a driver is transitioning into a reduced attentional state, wherein the reduced attentional state is a cognitive tunneling state when the attentional state of the driver is deep in thought while tuning out all else when operating the vehicle, the reduced attentional state is a fatigue state when the attentional state of the driver includes closing eyelids for an extended period in combination with yawing or head dropping, wherein the cognitive tunneling state is predicted when a heart rate variability is lower than a resting heart rate variability for the driver;
• and
• outputting to the audio-visual device one audio-visual cue to mitigate the cognitive tunneling state and outputting a different cue to mitigate the fatigue state.