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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."
See the link:
https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/INTRODUCTION/DETAILS/AVM/index.html
The safety benefits of such a system are immense, but; Does this mean driving down the highway is going to be like playing some strange version of Grand Turismo?
I'd be concerned about the possibility that people could become dependant on these features after driving with them for a while, causing otherwise normal almost used defensive driving skills to atrophy, and setting up for an accident if (when) the system malfunctions.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
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.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
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.
...he has a trucking company (long haul, 18-wheeler, whatever you want to call them) and he wrote "I want that on our trucks right now - do you know how many ripped skirts, tyre wear, bicycle accidents, problems with poles etc. that would save us?" And he has some of the best drivers in the nation - accidents like that just happen -because- it's damn near impossible to see anything.. A top-down view of the truck outline and everything around it would be a very worthy investment indeed.
... after the cameras fail to spot something (or someone).
That is called "Windows"
Unfortunately one big evil software Company has dibs on the concept.
Or you could teach people how to actually drive those behemoths, assuming they have a real reason for doing so (no, hauling the crotch-spawn around in an SUV doesn't count).
You just wait until you have kids. Then I will laugh at you, as you try and contort a couple of car seats into some tiny japmobile. And, if you never have kids, then I'll still laugh at you, because you have eliminated your genetic destiny.
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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.
What's there to learn? Ever car has pretty much the same blind spot, some are just larger than others. If the vehicle has no rear view mirror (trucks, cargo vans, etc) , than close behind is a blind spot (you should never be that close anyway). The dangerous blind spots are always about about 4 and 8 o'clock. Too far up for [regular] mirrors to see you, too far back for the drivers peripheral. Convertibles don't have steel beams in the roof, so there's a large canvas patch that would interfere with the view here. True, the driver should be aware of their vehicles blind spots. I personally use convex mirrors on both sides, so even without having to turn I have no blind spots.
Yes, the driver SHOULD still be checking their blind spots. But as a vigilant driver, shouldn't you still be aware when you're driving in one, and know that it's in your best interest to get out of it. Either pass or fall back.
So what you are saying is - if you rely solely on Windows, you are probably going to crash on a regular basis, and more frequently on some hardware than others?
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
The demo video somebody else linked to looks interesting, but it's easy to synthesize a good "top-down" view from side views when you're on an empty parking lot (i.e. flat surface). It would have to look strange to see a side view of the car next to you munged to appear as top-down though...
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