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

AVM in action

[heneon]

See the link:
https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/INTRODUCTION/DETAILS/AVM/index.html

Re:AVM in action

[Dun Malg]

While it's an interesting concept, especially in Tokyo where you regularly see microvans in spaces with an inch to spare (it's a tax thing, not land cost), do we have anything but PR here?

This could be just another flavour of concept-car, in which case it's no more now than it was in 60s Mechanic's Illustrated. (Yes, I was promised flying cars when I grew up, and I'm kinda bitter.) This isn't the same class as the "flying car". We already have cameras and monitors in cars. This is simply an evolutionary improvement. We will be seeing this, and probably quite soon.

The crucial bug to be defeated is it must see everything yet not generate false positives, and that's a very difficult "last mile" to accomplish. Where we are right now is your ubercar backup sensor causes very expensive damage because it was confused the antique metal bar fence. This system is basically four video cameras. Video cameras are not confused by wrought iron fences. You're confusing this with purely non-visual ultrasonic proximity detection systems. This system is supplemented with sonar prox units for collision warning, but it is primarily a visible light based system.

Is it really too much to read and understand the /. blurb in its entirety?

Third person driving!

[Tremegorn]

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?

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.

In fact, my dad just IM'd...

[Animaether]

...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.

Re:camera to low

[aix tom]

That is called "Windows"

Unfortunately one big evil software Company has dibs on the concept.

Re:Saving lives

[tjstork]

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.

Re:camera to low

[Glonoinha]

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?