We’ve covered a lot about upcoming automated and otherwise safety technologies in the future vehicles of many manufacturers here at Telematics.com, but apparently we didn’t cover everyone, as Jaguar Land Rover has just announced its own safety development coming soon to a vehicle near you. It’s quite different too, with the auto-maker postulating that it will be able to offer drivers a 360 degree, uninterrupted view of the outside world, without the usual windscreen pillars and door dividers getting in the way.
No, the plan isn’t to give us some 60’s future bubble car with a giant glass dome on top, but instead, to put display screens within the dividers around the car and link them up to camera feeds on the outside, making a somewhat seamless view all the way around the vehicle. The idea, is that this would help drivers avoid collisions caused by car’s or obstacles being hidden in blind spots.
However Jaguar Land Rover wants to take this further and combine it with technology being developed to help identify obstacles and respond automatically. So for example, if a biker comes up through a blind spot in the rear, the driver would be alerted to them, be able to look around and see them even if they were in a blind spot and on top of that, be given a flashing outline to make them even easier to spot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98h41TkREA
Dr Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover, said if the technology (via Yahoo): “Our ultimate aim is to reduce road accidents and enhance the urban driving experience. The Jaguar Land Rover research team is developing this technology to improve visibility and to give the driver with the right information at the right time.
“If we can keep the driver’s eyes on the road ahead and present information in a non-distracting way, we can help drivers make better decisions in the most demanding and congested driving environments,” he said.
There was some initial concern that all of the added displays, if permanently on would lead to wasted energy. However, Jaguar Land Rover’s system would work by initiating the displays, only if and when the driver turns their head to look through them. At that point they would activate and provide a clear view all around the vehicle.
While there is no word on what cars Jaguar wants to implement this tech in, or when it will be available to the general public, it has discussed advanced forms of it that could twin with navigation. Perhaps the side of the car that you need to turn could blink a certain colour when you’re approaching a junction? There could be colour based warnings for traffic, or theoretically some minor music visualisations for added entertainment purposes.
What are some of the ways you guys think this technology could be leveraged in the future?
