Skip to main content

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

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Review

Photo Credit: Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. untitled A companion to the NTT IndyCar Series finale weekend on the streets of Long Beach, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship staged a 26-car race on Saturday consisting of DPi, GTLM and GTD class machines. With the conclusion of the 1-hour, 40-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach sports car event, the overall winner was the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac shared by the driving duo of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani. The victory was a decisive weekend for the Whelen Engineering Racing team that had scored the pole position and went on to take the checkered flag with a 10.95-second gap over the #01 Cadillac fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande. Corvette Racing enjoyed a dominant outing in the GTLM category. Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner in the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R beat the #3 car shared by Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor. Only three GTLM class vehicles ran at Long Be

Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton Quickest In Qatar Qualifying

Photo Credit: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd. Saturday’s qualifying for the inaugural Formula 1 race in the Arab nation of Qatar has assembled what is certain to be a dramatic opening lap showdown between this season’s title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. In setting the grid for Sunday’s 57-lap main event on the fast, high grip 5.380-kilometer Losail International Circuit, it was the driver of the #44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team race car that took honours. Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning lap time of 1-minute, 20.827 seconds in the final Q3 session putting a cap on a time trial where the seven-time World Drivers’ Champion handily controlled through the three sessions. Joining Hamilton on the front row of the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix will be Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing machine. The Honda-powered entrant was 0.455 seconds slower than the rival Mercedes race car. With the race at Losail being the third-to-last event on the 2021 Form

Ignition for the Integra: Acura's New 2023 Sport Compact

Photo Credit: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. untitled In August, Honda’s luxury car brand Acura shared an intriguing teaser image accompanied by the revelation that a classic sport compact name would return. Included in a rather familiar close-up promotional shot capturing a headlamp and part of the Diamond Pentagon grille, the key focus was a nameplate reading “Integra”. A rear image of a five-door hatchback shape dropped in late September while a picture of a six-speed manual shifter released in mid-October clearly as a means to tantalize a modern premium sport compact crowd. After a 20-year hiatus, the Integra is once again part of the Acura lineup. A five-door hatchback touting a coupe-like shape, the 2023 Acura Integra will give entry-level luxury car buyers a strong taste of performance attitude. As was the case with the previous Integra models, the Honda Civic platform serves as the basis for this latest premium compact. While the new Civic hatchback’s silhouette i