Jaguar Land Rover's Bold Vision for Future with 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen

If you own a modern vehicle, chances are at least one pair of uncomfortably large roof pillars have possibly caused you grief while maneuvering. Larger pillars exist these days are necessitated to structurally toughen the vehicle for improved handling and to meet modern crash-resistance. While smaller roof pillars on older cars encouraged drivers to look around, the modern wisdom is to drive more dependently with mirrors. Despite serving their purpose, mirrors are not always trusted by drivers. Making the pillars virtually invisible, Jaguar Land Rover's new technology concept has the potential of reducing city collisions.

Called a 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen, Jaguar Land Rover uses array of high-tech devices to deliver a maximum field of view for the motorist. Inside, a screen is installed on each pillar of the vehicle's cabin is supported by cameras. The live video feeds from the camera positions are relayed onto the pillar displays providing an unobstructed perspective of the outer surroundings. The system would ultimately end blind spots and potentially prevent accidents. The system intelligently tracks the movement of the driver's head movement left or right and automatically makes the necessary pillars transparent.

Jaguar Land Rover have previously exhibited similar principles of the 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen earlier this year. At the New York Auto Show, Land Rover showed off a concept known as the Transparent Hood. With the Transparent Hood, cameras at the front of the vehicle transmitted images through a heads-up display system creating an augmented view over the hood panel. The Transparent Hood was touted as a unique feature for off-roading as it would allow drivers to operate with an expanded vision of every rock or obstacle traveling under the vehicle.

"Our ultimate aim is to reduce road accidents and enhance the urban driving experience. The Jaguar Land Rover research team is developing this technology to improve visibility and to give the driver with the right information at the right time. If we can keep the driver's eyes on the road ahead and present information in a non-distracting way, we can help drivers make better decisions in the most demanding and congested driving environments." said Jaguar Land Rover's Director of Research and Technology Dr. Wolfgang Epple regarding the 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen. Jaguar Land Rover is envisioning the 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen being connected to an automotive cloud-based computing interface. Possible enhancement to the virtual viewing system is greater integration with the environment such as street signs and points of interest.

Another technology under development by the car maker is called 'Follow-MeGhost Car Navigation'. Placing a virtual vehicle in the heads-up display ahead of the driver, Jaguar Land Rover's 'Follow-MeGhost Car Navigation' technology is being promoted as a more effective to turn-by-turn navigation directions.

Jaguar Land Rover has not placed a timeline for when or if their high-tech driving aids will is installed in production cars.

Information and photo source: Jaguar Land Rover

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