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Mercedes Unveils Digital Headlights That Project Street Signs, Markings Onto the Road Ahead (newatlas.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the street-art dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Atlas: Mercedes has just announced a conceptual new set of lamps that can not only adapt their light distribution to cater to the environment, but can project high-res visual aids onto the road ahead, such as makeshift zebra crossings for nearby pedestrians. The new system is dubbed Digital Light and features two million pixels that, with the help of algorithms and sensors that analyze the vehicle's surroundings, can each adjust their individual brightness depending on the scenario. An example of this might be a partial dimming to avoid blinding a cyclist. We have seen this kind of adaptive lighting technology before in systems developed by Fraunhofer and indeed Mercedes itself, although tuning it to control millions of pixels individually does appear to be new territory. But where the Digital Light system gets quite interesting is with the ability to project different objects onto the road. Imagine you are rolling up to an intersection in a foreign city with unfamiliar streets signs and the car, having collected the necessary information, projects a stop sign onto the road out ahead. Perhaps just as practical is the ability to shoot out strips of light that represent the precise width of the car, which could be pretty hand just as you try to squeeze through that extremely narrow gap. For what it's worth, Mercedes says it has already fitted it to a number of demo vehicles and reckons it will be on the road "in the near future."

65 comments

  1. Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The correct way to do this is with a heads-up display. Projecting images on the road will have all sorts of unintended consequences,
    including but not limited to distracting the drivers of oncoming cars ( those people who are so inconsiderately sharing the road
    you imagine you "own" ).

    I'd say I was surprised that German engineers thought this was a good idea, but I've seen the cars they are making these days
    and I now expect mediocre work from them. Stuff like plastic intake manifolds and coolant piping, and the most amusing of all,
    the "biodegradable" wiring harness ( ask any season Mercedes-Benz tech about that one ) have caused me to conclude that
    the companies involved are no longer concerned with doing the best possible work.

    1. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by zlives · · Score: 4, Funny

      4 Mercedes pull up to 4-way stop
      hilarity ensues

    2. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Yep. Plus they did not invent anything. This has existed for 3 years now as an open source project already. They copied other people's ideas.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by arth1 · · Score: 1

      The correct way to do this is with a heads-up display.

      That works great if it's calibrated to your head position, and you don't move your head a lot. Not so much for Wayne and Garth.
      Head tracking and a fast computer might help, once it not only tracks a 2D head position, but also distance from the windshield.

    4. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Projecting images on the road will have all sorts of unintended consequences"

      Some definitely would, that projection of a "turn here" image into the middle of an intersection is hilariously stupid. Many of the other capabilities would be hard pressed to do anything but assist in real world driving. Directing the headlight beam away from the windshield of oncoming cars and the faces of pedestrians would be a major improvement. The ability to project some simple notifications (like pedestrian markers, highlighting stopped/slowed vehicles in front of you, etc) would also most likely be far more of an asset than a drawback. That said all of this is predicated on a system that can do so with near perfect reliability, that would be a tall order for current technology.

    5. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      once it not only tracks a 2D head position, but also distance from the windshield.

      I have a tablet that claims to be able to know when I am looking at the screen. I think this problem has been solved for quite a bit of time.

    6. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by purplie · · Score: 1

      > distracting the drivers of oncoming cars
      ... or confusing the computers of nearby autonomous cars.

    7. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by arth1 · · Score: 1

      No, that's 2D, not 3D. It knows the direction your eyes are facing, but not how far away they are, which is needed to project an overlay correctly.
      Google glasses can do it because you're always the same distance from the screen, but when driving you aren't, unless someone straps your head to the headrest.
      So you need 3D head monitoring, not just 2D. And that's not here yet.

    8. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by xlsior · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The correct way to do this is with a heads-up display. Projecting images on the road will have all sorts of unintended consequences, including but not limited to distracting the drivers of oncoming cars ( those people who are so inconsiderately sharing the road you imagine you "own" ).

      While the road projection seems like a dumb idea, some of the other features of these smart lights as shown on their site actually sound really useful, such as intelligently not blinding oncoming traffic by blocking your headlights from projecting light at their faces while still lighting up the rest of the road in front of you.

    9. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by ProzacPatient · · Score: 1

      I find that often motor companies do this thing called innovating by researching new ideas often as a proof of concept, or a solution looking for a problem, but all too often despite that it may not have immediate practical application a journalist will none the less comes along and tell everyone "THIS IS THE FUTURE GUYS!!!!11!1!"

      So tl;dr edition: This is likely just a proof of concept with a specific application in the future that we're just not seeing yet.

    10. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They can't track someone's head in an small, empty, unobstructed cabin, but they want us to bet our lives on their ability to track hundreds of cars/pedestrians/random bits of debris in real time in a region of hundreds of thousands of cubic yards in god-knows what weather?

    11. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by skids · · Score: 1

      Another prospect once this technology is widespread would be to have side and back-mounted lights that cooperatively light the road for other drivers, which can then dim their own forward facing lights more to reduce even further the glare going into your windshield. Streetlights could get into the act as well.

      I've been of the opinion for a while that really, this technology is where all the attention should be, because its potential for disaster is somewhat less than autonomous vehicles, and it allows the groundwork for autonomous vehicles to be built without putting tons of them on the road before they are really ready.

      One thing though is they should be very aware of what the optimum anatomical response of a human is -- too much variability in the amount of glare might be worse than more glare at a relatively constant intensity, depending on how the eye processes things... so studies in driving simulators would seem merited.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
    12. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Golden_Rider · · Score: 1

      The correct way to do this is with a heads-up display. Projecting images on the road will have all sorts of unintended consequences,
      including but not limited to distracting the drivers of oncoming cars ( those people who are so inconsiderately sharing the road
      you imagine you "own" ).

      While the road projection seems like a dumb idea, some of the other features of these smart lights as shown on their site actually sound really useful, such as intelligently not blinding oncoming traffic by blocking your headlights from projecting light at their faces while still lighting up the rest of the road in front of you.

      But that part is not really new, something like that is already in production on many current cars. For example, my VW Golf has "dynamic light assist", which is exactly like that "no blinding" function - the main beam can be left on all the time, and when oncoming traffic is detected via a camera, the main beam is partially masked to avoid blinding: http://en.volkswagen.com/en/in...

    13. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by vovin · · Score: 1

      ... with a heads-up display

      The problem with the HUD is that projected overlays remain at a fixed focal distance. A volumetric HUD (holographic) would work for this experiment but I think this is a nifty 'cheat' for demonstrating what a volumetric HUD can do, should a car manufacturer pursue commercializing it.

      The current commercial offerings for HUD tech are at best a driving distraction, which is in large part why they have failed in the market place.

    14. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by slazzy · · Score: 1

      The biodegradable cables are great, the mice and rats seem to love them!

      --
      Website Just Down For Me? Find out
    15. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by The_Noid · · Score: 1

      It could be used to signal the intentions of the car to those around the car. The projected pedestrian crossing signals to the pedestrian that the car is intending to stop, so it is safe to cross. The projected turn sign indicates that the car intends to turn right at that turn, and not the (sometimes very close by) earlier or later ones.

      Of course this only really works for autonomous cars, since as long as there is a human at the wheel the car won't know what the human is going to do.

    16. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      Love the idea. It of course stops working in dust storms and snow storms and fog. It is really needed when it stops working. I presume it also stops working in daylight too.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    17. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad as their stupid vacuum system. I remember being told - don't need to use electric. We can open the door lock with vacuum power. I asked how the system worked, about 30 meters worth of vacuum hose, storage tank, etc. I asked what controlled the vacuum valves - electric of course. Rube Goldberg joke on their buyers.

      The other joke is if you compare Berlin for hire - cab companies records to US cab companies records, the Mercedes records, Ford, Chevrolet, put them all in a hat and mix them up, you wouldn't be able to tell which one goes with which maker. They are no better than any other company.

    18. Re:Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now. by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Last I checked, no autonomous cars use the other car's headlights to determine where the car is. This is what radar is good at.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  2. Two things by rmdingler · · Score: 1
    There is a Rogue One ad on my current green line site screen, and I can't wait to see it.

    I believe this story's line should be brown.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  3. No possible problem with this at all. by Obfuscant · · Score: 3, Interesting

    projects a stop sign onto the road out ahead.

    Or projects a different sign. Other vehicles see that sign and assume it must be right, ignoring the posted stop sign (or other traffic control device) and causing an accident. I see absolutely no risk in each vehicle creating it's own moving traffic control system.

    Especially when it starts projecting "zebra crossings" into the street. That's going to create a mess and be quite a process here in Oregon where there is a crosswalk at every intersection. What fun, when a pedestrian sees the oncoming car projecting crosswalk markings so they assume the driver is aware of it and steps out into the street assuming the driver is already planning on stopping. Hilarity ensues.

    1. Re:No possible problem with this at all. by arth1 · · Score: 1

      The problem is perspective. The road is flat, so what's projected on it will not appear as the same shape for someone looking on it from elsewhere.

      Also, roads are seldom ballroom floor flat. Which paint can overcome, but a very shallow angle light can't. Even a very small hump in front of the target, small enough to not even notice when driving over it, can block the light.

    2. Re:No possible problem with this at all. by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      The problem is perspective. The road is flat, so what's projected on it will not appear as the same shape for someone looking on it from elsewhere.

      No. If you project what appears to be a "zebra crossing" onto the street, it has to appear on the street in the same place as a real zebra crossing for the driver to see it as such.

      There are perspective issues involved, but they exist for both the projection and the viewer. You cannot simply project an image of a zebra crossing onto the street, you have to distort it to take the surface into account. And the viewer's brain will take care of the reverse perspective problem, taking the distorted regular striped pattern as seen on the retinal surface and converting it into "zebra crossing" in the brain.

      This is one of the reasons why a HUD would be a better solution to this problem. Not only will the info be invisible (and thus not distracting) to outside observers, it is a much simpler problem to manage the perspective and transformations necessary to project the correct data.

      Perform this thought experiment. You are in a large lecture hall. There is a computer projector displaying a circle on the screen at the front of the room. The projector electronics have taken the angles into account and distorted the incoming video signal so that the displayed image is a circle on the screen. Now move about the room so your perspective of the screen changes. The image on your retina will change based on your angle to the screen, but your brain will still see a circle.

    3. Re:No possible problem with this at all. by arth1 · · Score: 1

      Perform this thought experiment. You are in a large lecture hall. There is a computer projector displaying a circle on the screen at the front of the room. The projector electronics have taken the angles into account and distorted the incoming video signal so that the displayed image is a circle on the screen. Now move about the room so your perspective of the screen changes. The image on your retina will change based on your angle to the screen, but your brain will still see a circle.

      Counter-example: Walk along a school road, and look for the SCHOOL marking in the street. From the side, it's so distorted that it's very hard to make out what it says.

    4. Re:No possible problem with this at all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you had thought for just one second longer, you'd have realised why your so-called counter-example proves why projecting zebras is a bad idea.
      Pedestrians normally see zebras from the side, expecting long and thin lines.
      Cars normally see zebras from the road, expecting short and fat lines.
      So if you project a zebra on the road, both cars and pedestrians will see exactly what they would expect to see if there were an actual zebra there.
      Yes, the image is perspectively distorted – but it's perspectively distorted in the way people expect it to be distorted. If you shine light on the road to make the image of zebra that looks normally distorted for the driver so it looks like a zebra crossing, then it will look like a zebra for all viewers from all directions.

    5. Re:No possible problem with this at all. by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Counter-example: Walk along a school road, and look for the SCHOOL marking in the street. From the side, it's so distorted that it's very hard to make out what it says.

      That's not a counter-example. The school marking is distorted so that it appears to be normal text TO THE DRIVER. It's text, we're used to seeing it as text.

      But a zebra crossing has a fixed GROUND image, and drivers are most used to seeing it from that perspective. Just what is the "normal" perspective for that marking which is only ever seen from the side as it is painted on the ground? There is no other "normal" perspective. It needs to be seen as it would be were it on the ground, because that is the only way it is ever seen.

  4. Very interesting, but could cause other problems by Dan+East · · Score: 2

    This is pretty cool. I think in general it's a good idea, however I can see it causing entirely new sets of problems. As drivers we recognize the difference between what we ought to do, and what we must do. For example, there are times when crossing a double yellow line would result in my death, while there are other times I cross the double yellow line safely and without risk to avoid a hazard in my lane or on the shoulder. My concern is people will start seeing these visual aids as things they *must* do. Thus in the process of trying to adhere exactly to the virtual markings, they become oblivious to the actual hazards that are more important. In one of the pictures they show two lane markers projected, which is where the car ideally should travel. On the right there are barriers that are actual hazards that are taking up part of the lane, and to the left is the other lane, which may or may not be an actual hazard. So if I am concentrating on the projected markers (which I assume are "intelligent" because they are dynamic), will it be obvious enough that I am travelling into another lane and that I must make sure the lane is clear of other vehicles first?
    http://img-2.newatlas.com/merc...

    The real question though is this... if the car has that much information about the environment to project images that tell you what to do, why isn't the car doing the driving in the first place?

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  5. Fart by sexconker · · Score: 1, Troll

    I farted. I demoed this to people in the office, and they were quite excited. You'll be able to experience it yourself "in the near future".

    (This kind of shit is stupid and won't be around "in the near future". The regulations for headlights alone would take years to rewrite and grease through. Further, nobody wants to see the projections from a car other than their own, least of all cyclists and pedestrians. It's bad enough when some jackass has illegal HID lamps that are misaligned so they blind you and are that ugly blue color so the last thing you see is just fucking awful. The only sane way to do this shit is to do it on the windshield as a head-up display for the driver.)

  6. Just what people need, more distractions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Headlights aren't fucking projectors, they are designed solely to illuminate the road and any reflective sign/markings ahead.
    We already communicate using headlights, it's called flashing. It gives all communication you need on the road, either "proceed with your maneuver, i shall wait" or "thanks".

    I'm piloting over a tonne of metal moving at speeds capable of inflicting instantaneous death upon anything in my way; don't fucking distract me by putting on a pretty light show on the road ahead!

    1. Re:Just what people need, more distractions by arth1 · · Score: 1

      I'm piloting over a tonne of metal moving at speeds capable of inflicting instantaneous death upon anything in my way; don't fucking distract me by putting on a pretty light show on the road ahead!

      Indeed. And this includes strobo lights on bicycles, which are banned in some more civilized countries precisely because they cause accidents for others than the selfish bastard using them for their own protection, fuck everybody else.

      Cooperate, and don't distract people who try to control heavy objects at high speed.

    2. Re:Just what people need, more distractions by sexconker · · Score: 1

      I'm piloting over a tonne of metal moving at speeds capable of inflicting instantaneous death upon anything in my way

      What about a California Redwood?
      Or a layer of water bears on the road?

  7. The marketing options are endless!! by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can the project ads for close by stores, like Duncan Donuts? Or maybe pop up some on-road advertising for what you look at on Amazon last night, and then an arrow showing where you can buy it locally! Oh, brave new world!

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:The marketing options are endless!! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      STOP AHEAD!
      For our delicious pepperoni pizza...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  8. "could be pretty hand just as you try to squeeze" by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    ah, romance

  9. Neat tech by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But they are just more features I do not want.

  10. this is going to be fun to hack by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    I'll bet a bunch of kids in middle school are busy doing that right now.

    Red means Go Dog Go!

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:this is going to be fun to hack by arth1 · · Score: 1

      I'll bet a bunch of kids in middle school are busy doing that right now.

      Red means Go Dog Go!

      You haven't been around middle schoolers lately?
      Projected penises.

  11. You should *NOT* be projecting.... by mark-t · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... stuff onto the road because it will only distract and confuse other people. On a closed course, that might be fine, but when you are sharing the road with other drivers, there is just way too much that can go wrong with this (with potentially fatal consequences).

    If you want to help the motorist with tech like this, put a HUD inside of the car that will show the necessary info on the windshield to the driver, because there is no reason for anyone outside of the car to see that shit.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:You should *NOT* be projecting.... by swb · · Score: 1

      I think there are fair arguments about not distracting other drivers. But one thing nice about this vs. a HUD is that it actually projects imagery onto the surface you're supposedly to be looking at -- you want to focus on the road in front of you generally so seeing directional markings there is completely natural and doesn't require a change in visual focus or the distraction of having to look through a HUD's imagery to the road beyond.

      Some potential ideas to make is less distracting for others -- don't display markings when another car is within a distance where they may easily see them, display markings such that they're oriented/displayed in a way meaningful to other drivers or communicate that they should be ignored. I drive through intersections many times a day with turn arrows and lane markings not relevant to me and I don't get confused.

      I also wonder if there's some way of projecting them with a light color, pattern or polarization that's made more visible by filters laminated into the originating car's windshield, especially if it managed to do it such that other cars windshields acted as passive filters due to their polarization.

      I think it's a great way to put information exactly where it belongs for driver visual focus. Distraction to other motorists *could* be a problem, but overall people are already visually attuned to ignore markings that are backwards or don't apply to them and their direction of travel. Roads have all kinds of markings already and nobody complains about excess street markings. And it may be possible to project them in a way that makes it difficult for other drivers to see them at all.

    2. Re:You should *NOT* be projecting.... by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Actually, because of collimation, you don't have to shift your focus to read a HUD if it has been properly designed, so the argument about having to change focal distances between outside and inside is generally a moot.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  12. Re:Very interesting, but could cause other problem by blindseer · · Score: 2

    The real question though is this... if the car has that much information about the environment to project images that tell you what to do, why isn't the car doing the driving in the first place?

    That's easy, lawyers.

    Lawyers are why we can't have nice things.

    Don't get me wrong. We need laws. We need people knowledgeable in law. We need courts, a justice system, and so on. The problem is a profession built upon frivolous lawsuits. These lawyers get paid even if the suit is stupid, or even unlikely to win. There is no easy solution to this because the stupidity of a given lawsuit is in itself something that is open to debate. Getting lawyers that simply will not take money to go through with stupid suits is impossible, because people need money.

    Technological solutions to problems are not nearly the obstacle they used to be. Getting this technology to fit in a society that is not used to such a pace in technological development is now a much larger problem. At least that is how I see it.

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
  13. this by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 1

    off topic, but I just heard an ad where lawyers were soliciting clients who had been wronged, for, get this; losing their hair during chemotherapy!

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
    1. Re:this by skids · · Score: 1

      What I got from that ad was that the particular drug causes *permanant* hair loss while other drugs do not, and this side-effect was not mentioned to caregivers/patients so they could factor it into their decision.

      Still a typical ambulance chasing ad, though.

      --
      Someone had to do it.
  14. How long until it's hacked.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....and 27 Mercedes driving down the freeway are projecting goatse onto the road ?

    This is a spectacularly bad idea.

  15. What happened to rain-hiding headlights? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

    I'm more impressed by this proof-of-concept from a few years ago, of headlights which could selectively de-illuminate individual raindrops and improve visibility in rain (or so was claimed) by 50% even at 90km/h.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:What happened to rain-hiding headlights? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think this is harder to implement it IRL since you have to collect depth information too when driving. The angular velocity changes different for drops at different distances. I only see static implementations in the video.

      But I would like to be surprised. It does look cool.

  16. Welcome to the future, fellow shitlords. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good thing this system is going to be unhackable because there would be some scary shit going down if it were taken over by script kiddies or nefarious state sponsored Russian hacker types :)

  17. Drive-ins make a comeback. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually with this technology and a blank wall the drive-in theater will make a comeback.

  18. Lulz by capebretonsux · · Score: 1

    Oh please, please let the first malware hack of this be a windscreen full of flying dicks, a-la second life interview!

  19. MERCEDES MAN! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My favorite is the image that shows the Mercedes logo projected onto the road. Like the goddamn car is a retarded Batsignal projecting the Mercedes logo instead.

    I think this is a neat concept and I'm sure that are great examples of ways that this is useful. I'm not bashing the concept. But that just struck me as so stupid. If one of the ideas is to project signs or conditions of the road in order to give the driver another way to see them, that's great. A Mercedes logo? Is that just to remind them that is the brand car that they are driving? As if they are so rich that suddenly they are too well-off to even use long or short term memory?

    I like to use my company logo on a lot of the things I design in prototyping phases or as placeholder graphics. I think my logo is really cool. But I don't think I would've used it in promotional images for a concept like this. Just seems odd when they have so many other options like Stop signs (which they show in another image), or perhaps they can use location data synced to an online network for current warnings of traffic problems.

    Bah!

    Spontaneous Old Man Rant over. Now please get off my lawn.

    1. Re:MERCEDES MAN! by minstrelmike · · Score: 1

      That's kind of what I was thinking. Everyone always claims their new tech is going to make people safer, happier, etc.
      When really all it is mostly used for is to sell stuff.
      Television was promoted as something that was going to show concerts and informative classes to the masses.
      Same with the internet

      Now granted, selling stuff often does make people safer, happier, etc., but still
      these headlights are going to be providing advertisements to the driver.
      And in driverless cars, they'll be showing ads to all the passengers all the time.
      Just imagine how wonderful that will be.

  20. Not just a bad idea it's a sinister one by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's less funny when you realize that they are developing a car that can project a "makeshift zebra crossing" onto the road directly in front of it. Why exactly would you want to entice pedestrians to walk out into the road directly in front of a car? Hmmm.

    1. Re:Not just a bad idea it's a sinister one by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      It's less funny when you realize that they are developing a car that can project a "makeshift zebra crossing" onto the road directly in front of it. Why exactly would you want to entice pedestrians to walk out into the road directly in front of a car? Hmmm.

      So your pedestrian-killing algorithm has targets to aim for? Quick, turn on the zebra-crossing projector, that's ten points each up ahead!

    2. Re:Not just a bad idea it's a sinister one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Death Race 2020: Sponsored by Mercedes Benz

  21. Or... by dohzer · · Score: 1

    Or you could just make a car that drives itself. Either way.

  22. Safe passing box by Zoxed · · Score: 1

    As a cyclist I would like a system for myself that could mark the minimum safe passing distance to my side.
    If it also included a high powered offensive laser for intruders then that would be a bonus!

    1. Re: Safe passing box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And forces you as the cyclist to respect that same box before weaving in between cars.

    2. Re: Safe passing box by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are already gadgets you can buy that projects lines alongside your bicycle

  23. Re: Bad Idea, but that's what Germany is up to now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Imagine 12 taxis at the same intersection. Now think why projecting onto the road isn't a good idea.

  24. How long until the first ads? by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And projecting ads will be a day 1 feature in this application.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  25. The most important part by XNormal · · Score: 1

    The signs are mostly a gimmick. The important part is to identify other vehicles to avoid dazzling them while keeping everything else well lit by main beams.

    Hundreds of millions of people with reduced night vision that cannot (or should not) drive at night will be able to do it safely.

    --
    Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
  26. I want ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... one that will project signs for the side street traffic that says, "Expensive car approaching. Yield right of way."

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  27. #mercedesstanowskiego by Cronq · · Score: 1

    btw.

    https://www.facebook.com/hasht...

    #mercedesstanowskiego

    Use google translate for reading. Mercedes social meda (and real media) fail for fun and (lack of) profit.

  28. Hook it up to the GPS by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    And have it display the names of streets that are coming up if you have the option turned on. Not really required if you have your phone or a GPS system in your car but it would look cool which is basically what this system is about. The only thing that I can see being useful is the lines being projected showing the width of the car. The rest seems kind of pointless.