New Car Sensor System Simulates Birds-Eye View

narramissic writes "Remember when you had to turn around in your seat to parallel park? Ok, maybe you still do, but if you drive a Nissan, those days may soon be behind you. The company's 'Around View Monitor system' displays a virtual bird's-eye view of the car and what's around it. Video from four small video cameras with wide-angle lenses — two mounted on the underside of the wing mirrors, one at the front under the grill and one at the rear under the license plate — is displayed on the navigation system monitor so that it appears to be a view from above the car and sonar sensors at each corner of the vehicle provide an audible warning when it is coming close to an object or person. And as if that weren't enough... the system also projects the car's future course based on the current direction of the wheels."

Comments

I want to see around corners

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Forget "birds eye" view - I want a "car's nose view." A pair of cameras mounted at the very front of the car - one camera facing right and the other facing left. That way I can see "around" hedges, tress, fences and other visual obstructions when crossing or turning onto a road.

Does the system record the video?

[ReallyEvilCanine]

Mark me as a troll as much as you want but anyone who's been through a Terry stop (or, for that matter, any sort of police stop) in the US will want this recorded along with a few well-placed mics for audio. At least 45 minutes' recording. Just in case you missed it, here's a good example of the reason why. I've been through such stops in Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania and Maryland and I've never been guilty of Driving While Black.

Re:camera to low

[wlad]

The problem with "windows" is that they suffer from blind spots, especially when you take the mirrors into account. With trucks and other vehicles that don't even have rear windows it's even worse. Such a system would allow for complete awareness of what happens around the vehicle.