Described herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for assessing an awareness level of a vehicle occupant such as a vehicle operator and taking one or more measures to raise the awareness level of the vehicle occupant if deemed necessary. In particular, if the awareness level of the vehicle occupant falls below a minimum threshold level of awareness for safe vehicle operation, one or more response measures may be taken to raise the awareness level above the threshold level. The awareness level of the vehicle occupant can be quantitatively determined based on a physiological and/or behavioral response of the vehicle occupant to an applied stimulus such as one or more light pulses, an audible sound, or the like.
Vehicle operator awareness detection