Quote:
Originally Posted by David70
This article is from October, did something change or is it wrong? Seems like it is being used to figure out what went wrong as you crashed. They probably aren't marketing this new "feature". 
https://electrek.co/2020/10/04/tesla...a-looking-for/
A Tesla hacker has revealed what Tesla’s driver-facing camera in Model 3 and Model Y is looking for — hinting at driver monitoring feature.
When Tesla launched the Model 3, it equipped the vehicle with a standard cabin-facing camera located in the rearview mirror.
At the time, the automaker said that the camera wasn’t active and it would be used in the future.
CEO Elon Musk said that it would be used to prevent people from vandalizing cars when they are being driven automatically on Tesla’s upcoming self-driving robotaxi network.
For almost 3 years, the camera was not used in the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles until earlier this year when Tesla activated the camera for the first time.
The company started collecting images and clips for research purposes with consent from the drivers:
“Help Tesla continue to develop safer vehicles by sharing camera data from your vehicle. This update will allow you to enable the built-in cabin camera above the rearview mirror. If enabled, Tesla will automatically capture images and a short video clip just prior to a collision or safety event to help engineers develop safety features and enhancements in the future.
Tesla is not actively using the camera to monitor drivers’ attention and instead, the automaker says that it only uses the data without being attached to specific drivers to improve existing features and future ones.
Tesla’s only active driver monitoring feature when Autopilot is engaged is detecting if torque is being applied to the wheel.
Several other driver-assist systems, like GM’s Supercruise, are using cabin-facing cameras to make sure drivers are looking at the road.
Electrek’s Take
In the past, Elon has talked down on driver-monitoring based on gaze tracking, but it looks like that’s what Tesla is working on.
However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Tesla will release such a driver monitoring feature.
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They must have pushed an update out since the article was written. The friend of mine who owns the model 3 is an autopilot engineer at Tesla so I'll ask him if theres any more info he can share about what exactly the interior camera currently does/is used for.
If you're interested, here's a quick clip we shot over the weekend of the car driving itself from my house to Netflix HQ. I'm the guy riding shotgun with the overgrown hairdo