The Smart Cars project is a joint effort between NICTA, the CSIRO, and the Australian National University, with NICTA writing the software using Linux and open source.

NICTA's vision science, technology and applications (VISTA) project manager Lars Petersson said the project is all about making driving safer, not replacing the driver.

"We are enhancing an already good driver with computer technology," Petersson said. "Most accidents happen when the driver is being distracted or is tired. So if we are able to make them slightly better we can get rid of lots of accidents."

The Smart Car system takes a feed from a camera and processes images to detect pedestrians, speed signs, and other vehicles. It then warns the driver if they are not obeying the speed limit.

"We try to monitor all the different aspects of the scene around the car," Petersson said. "We are also using a system to track the eye gaze direction of the driver and we can see if the driver looked at the car stereo or [has seen] a sign and therefore missed the pedestrian."