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Tesla recently allowed hands-free driving with the FSD (supervised) 12.3 update. Before this version, Tesla owners had to apply force to the steering wheel to prove to the system that they were paying attention.
However, with the role out of FSD 12.3, Tesla started using the in-cabin cameras to monitor driver attentiveness.
This was all well and good; however, Tesla FSD users in sunny climates soon discovered that the hands-free feature could not be used if they were wearing sunglasses.
This is because sunglasses obscure your eyes from the camera, making the system unable to determine whether you are indeed paying attention.
Now, the choice is, would you rather wear sunglasses and have to put your hands on the steering wheel to prove attentiveness or take off the sunglasses and enjoy hands-free driving?
This was the predicament one FSD user found himself in. John Carmack on X wrote, “It is a little unfortunate that I need to choose between sunglasses with hands on wheel vs. normal glasses and hands off due to the attention monitoring software needing to make sure you don’t fall asleep, but I get it.”
To our delight, Elon Musk saw Carmack’s post and responded, confirming that the next version of FSD, FSD v12.5, will allow you to use the feature hands-free while wearing sunglasses. In response to Carmack, Musk simply wrote, “Should be fixed in 12.5.”
Should be fixed in 12.5
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2024
Given that the driver monitoring software relies on tracking your eyes to determine if you are paying attention, it’s slightly baffling how Tesla will be able to determine if a person is, for example, sleeping under the sunglasses.
In order to bypass the eyes, Tesla will most likely need to employ much more sophisticated machine learning algorithms that can determine a person's state of mind simply from head movement and body position.
Luckily for Tesla, the EV maker has millions of vehicles on the road with real-world driving experiences that it can feed its AI to teach the system to determine a person’s state of mind without relying on the eyes.
When Will Tesla FSD 12.5 launch?
If you are excited by the prospect of using your FSD software hands-free while wearing sunglasses, you’re probably asking when FSD v12.5 will launch.
The exact launch date for the next major FSD update is unknown; however, you will be happy to learn that Tesla is already testing FSD v12.5 out on the roads.
Currently, the only people who have access to the upcoming software are internal Tesla autopilot engineers and field testers.
Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla vehicles are doing validation drives across the US, and several Tesla vehicles have been spotted on the famous Chuck Cook’s unprotected left turn doing validation testing.
What improvements are coming with FSD v12.5?
We’ve already discussed hands-free driving while wearing sunglasses; however, that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the improvements coming to the v12.5 software.
In a recently aired Bloomberg interview, Bill Gates discussed Elon Musk. Gates said he recently said hi to Musk at an event and recounted that Musk “talks a lot.” Gates added that he hoped Musk would discuss climate change more. @Tesla @elonmusk #Tesla
-https://t.co/g0DRjvIcyD… pic.twitter.com/h3oF9UdJip
— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) July 20, 2024
Musk says that FSD v12.5 will see a five times increase in parameter count. This will allow the system to learn more complex driving environments and their interaction with the vehicle.
In addition, the FSD v12.5 software will also finally merge the highway and surface street driving stacks into one complete system, allowing the same neural networks to drive in all situations.
This is exciting; however, one area of concern is that with the more complex neural nets Tesla is rolling out with the v12.5 update, it is becoming increasingly difficult for older Tesla Models, with the Hardware 3 full self-driving computer, to run the software effectively.
Currently, it appears that all Tesla vehicles with HW3 computers will likely get the 12.5 update. However, in the long term, the vehicle inference computer is reaching its capability limit.
On the positive side, Elon Musk has confirmed that FSD v12.5 will also be the first version of FSD to roll out to Cybertruck owners.
Overall, we’re excited to see all the upcoming improvements that will debut with the FSD v12.5 software, and we will be sure to keep you posted once we learn more about the update.
Until then, make sure to visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
So, what do you think? Do you think it’s worty of Tesla’s limited engineering talent to work on the ability to use FSD hand free while wearing sunglasses? Also, do you think allowing people to use FSD hands free while wearing sunglasses will cause safety issue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below.
Image: Screenshot from Tesla’s YouTube channel
For more information, check out: Bill Gates on Elon Musk: “I Talked to Elon Recently, He Talks a Lot, I Hope He Talks More About Climate”
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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