Toyota cars with Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage’s Visconti 4 image recognition processor have received the highest level of evaluations in the first half of the Japan New Car Assessment Programme (JNCAP).

Installed in Toyota’s Lexus UX and Lexus NX vehicles, the processor is said to be an integral part of driver assistance systems.

JNCAP was founded in 1995 to assess the road safety of new vehicles. The programme incorporates tests by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victims’ Aid (NASVA).

The tests assess vehicle performance for preventive safety, collision safety, and pedestrian protection. Emergency braking and other advanced safety technologies are assessed under the Preventive Safety Performance Assessment.

The evaluation of damage mitigation braking on illuminated streets was introduced last year. The scope of the evaluation was expanded this year to cover the performance of the same on unlit streets.

Visconti 4 can identify the difference in brightness between objects and their backgrounds, which leads to improved detection of pedestrians in low light.

The company noted that this helped Toyota cars attain high scores in the evaluation process. The cars with the Visconti 4 system were rated ASV+++, which is the highest rating.

The technology is installed as part of DENSO’s Front-Camera-Based Active Safety System.

Since September, Toshiba began sample shipments of Visconti 5, which offer advanced Deep Neural Network IP.

Earlier this month, Toyota teamed up with Weathernews to start a verification test in Japan that will assess on-road weather conditions using wiper data.

In September, Israeli autonomous AI mobility startup Cortica raised undisclosed funds in its Series B funding round to create autonomous car venture. The round was led by global automotive giants Toyota AI Ventures and BMW i Ventures.