Augmented reality is an approach with the help of which various physical entities can be viewed directly or indirectly on any surface or screen with the help of different equipments. It can be just information to any physical representation to the pictorial representation of data to giving instructions on data. A better picture of the technology can be grasped, if you have seen Mission Impossible series or avenger series movies where the actor flips images and data on the screen with the movement of fingers – an artist’s interpretation of augmented reality. Implementing the technology in automobiles is an innovative approach and comes with multiple benefits to the driver and passenger taking the levels of commutation to new heights.
Key features and utilities
Small and crisp developments have been made in the domain and automobiles are available in the market that have the feature of augmented reality. The utility of the technology is limited and is in the early phase. Right now, the technology is limited to only to replicate the traffic signals on the dashboard and identifying objects in front of the vehicle and furnishing little details about them. A little has been offered in the field of pedestrian detection and projecting diagnostic analysis of the vehicle on the dashboard or windshield with the help of this technology.
An attempt is being made to enhance the night vision capabilities of the driver due to inadequate street lighting and constrained view of the vehicle headlights. The technology will be able to detect the obstacle in the path of the vehicle along, and pedestrians who are crossing the paths.
The important thing here is to differentiate the living-beings from non-living beings so that living entities may not be risked. Pedestrians and objects can be displayed on the windshield with the help of augmented reality furnishing the details about them and the course of vehicle to avoid collision.
Extra features like GPS can also be combined with the approach that will input the starting and terminating locations and propose the suitable path in a visual display on the windshield without barring the view of the driver.
The driver can have information via the windshield itself by not deviating his/her vision and keep constant vision on the road. This will lead to better safety. This includes displaying the diagnostics, giving alerts of imminent and possible collision, touch control of devices in some cases and lot more.
The vehicle needs to be equipped with sensors and devices such as cameras, radars and controllers and projectors to aid the system in the functioning.
Prospective future
Already, ample research has been done and many small implications have been implemented successfully in the recent cars available in the market. Efforts are being made to increase the prospects of the technology by combining it with various other techniques like artificial intelligence and other technologies to enable the driver with a total control and access of the car on his windshield itself.
Integrating with interactive technologies like V2V and ability to communicate with communication satellites and traffic management systems will come with many benefits to both the government and the customer. It can lead to a lot of hardware reduction on the dashboard and associated expenses too. Speedometer, odometer can all be displayed on the windshield itself.
