Passenger airbags are currently designed for the optimal support of a 50-percentile adult in a crash, reducing the risk of severe injury for a maximum range of occupants. However, such a fixed-level, high-energy airbag deployment can be extremely dangerous for very small occupants, for example the 5-percentile woman or children in infant seats. For this very reason, new standards such as FMVSS 208 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208) include differentiated airbag deployment strategies according to occupant classification.

IEE, Luxemburg, develops and manufactures such occupant classification systems. An example of which are the sensor mats made by IEE, which tier one automotive suppliers use globally for their seating systems. These mats measure the twodimensional pressure profile in the seat area, and deliver these values for a pattern recognition algorithm as basis for occupant classification. An innovative development project, currently being conducted by the company, is an optical system which can provide three-dimensional information on the occupant, enabling highly differentiated classification. This system is projected to become commercial by 2007.