A new partnership could help to bring B-Secur‘s cardiac biometrics technology to the automotive sector: The company has teamed up with Analog Devices (“ADI”), a Massachusetts-based engineering firm with a hand in a wide range of areas, from amplifiers to industrial ethernet to processors and DSPs.

The partnership will seek to combine ADI’s signal conditioning technology with the Irish startup’s electrocardiogram (ECG) algorithms, allowing in-vehicle sensor systems to identify drivers and passengers. In a statement announcing the collaboration, the companies outlined a range of potential uses for such a system, including assessing driver alertness, administrating access control for vehicle features or ignition, customizing infotainment settings, and even authenticating online payments processed through the vehicle.

Commenting further, B-Secur Chief Commercial Officer Ben Carter said the technology could offer “meaningful insights on driver/passenger wellness, including stress and drowsiness,” adding that his firm’s collaboration with ADI will “help make the world a safer place with ECG biometrics, securing human and technology interaction at its heart.”

News of the partnership comes a year after B-Secur’s announcement that it had raised £3.5 million in funding from a number of investors thanks to excitement over its ECG biometrics technology. The company was not aiming specifically at automotive applications at the time, but as the smart car concept continues to evolve, it’s quite possible that this will become a key focus area for the company going forward from its ADI partnership.