Auto Safety Blog #11: Augmented Reality for Advanced Safety
Written by Tuffy Pete   
Tuesday, 08 March 2011 00:00
BMW's HUD Windshield
It’s a beautiful evening and you decide to take a drive down a winding country road. The sun has just set, and the air is moist. The fog soon rolls in, and you can barely see the car ahead of you. You click on the fog lights, which help a little, but the thicker the fog gets, the harder it is to see. Finally, you have to pull over and wait for the fog to clear a little before driving on.

This frustrating experience will soon be a thing of thing of the past. As technology advances, auto safety features that were once science fiction become a reality. Within eight years, augmented reality windshields may become a standard feature on most cars.

The basics

BMW's Windshield in Action
In the simplest terms, augmented reality windshields display relevant visual clues, based on what’s in front of your car, to help you drive more safely. The aviation industry has enjoyed this technology for years, but it has taken a while to translate it into a viable technology for passenger vehicles.

The research and development experts at BMW and GM have been working for the last ten years to bring this technology to their vehicles. And it seems to be time well spent. Studies have shown that head-up displays (HUDs) increase driver performance and response time.

In 1988, GM developed and brought to market the first advanced HUD, which featured the speedometer right in the glass of the windshield. BMW took a little more time to refine their first four-color HUD, which came to market in 2003 in the 5 Series vehicles.

GM's Augmented Reality Windshield
The next advancement in the windshield will include much more than just a speedometer overlay. Augmented reality windshields have a more complex system of cameras, sensors, and display. These cameras and sensors can see things that the human eye cannot. They can alert the driver to the edge of the road or a pedestrian wandering into the path of the vehicle. The system can also integrate with blind-spot sensors, lane departure systems, and forward collision systems to keep the driver aware of the vehicle’s relative location and of immediate safety concerns.

Normal wear

The standard warranty of each manufacturer covers most of the technology related to the augmented reality and HUDs. However, most of these systems have not been standardized yet, so we don’t know what the life cycle of these features will look like.

What can go wrong

Drivers can get complacent and rely too much on the technology. It’s easy to get distracted by the radio, a cell phone, and other passengers while driving. It’s even easier to get distracted when there are systems in place to compensate. These systems are designed to enhance the driving experience, not to replace the need for the driver’s attention and focus. It is important that drivers stay vigilant in vehicles with advanced safety features.

Care and maintenance

Standard maintenance has not been defined for many of these features. Please check with your local BMW or GM dealer for more information.

Most of us are still driving cars with windshields that do just that, shield us from the wind. If you want to get a look at what’s coming, please enjoy these short video clips from BMW and GM on their latest advancements in HUDs and augmented reality windshields.

BMW


GM