jaguar-land-rover-360-urban-virtual-ghost-car

In a twisted homage to another famed British luxury carmaker known for spectre-inspired nameplates, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is currently working on numerous technological platforms aimed at reducing the number of accidents in the urban environment by improving driver visibility and overall ease of navigation.

With JLR's 'Follow-Me Ghost Car' navigation system, the image of a 'lead' car is projected onto the windscreen via the head-up display (HUD) and allows the driver to follow the direction of the 'ghost' car, turn by turn, to their selected destination.

As part of the new range of technological advancements, the '360 Virtual Urban Windscreen' system employs a form of 'invisible' roof pillars that allow for maximum visibility when navigating around urban environments as well as decreasing the odds of blind spots popping up when manoeuvring through traffic.

This is possible via the use of cameras mounted outside the car which then stream a live video feed onto screens mounted on the pillars in the cabin. With said system, the usual blind spots caused by thick A-, B- and C-pillars are eradicated.

In conjunction with the 'invisible' pillars, the head-up display unit will detect and project the trajectory and location of pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles - which are highlighted by a halo on the windscreen. Should the system detect an impending change of direction, the respective pillars are rendered transparent.

"Driving on city streets can be a stressful experience, but imagine being able to drive across town without having to look at road signs, or be distracted trying to locate a parking space as you drive by," states Dr. Wolfgang Epple, director of research and technology at JLR.

Furthermore, via Cloud computing, the '360 Virtual Urban Windscreen' system is able to provide valuable information to the driver ranging from petrol prices at a petrol station to the number of parking lots available inside a building. The system also eases navigation by stating famous landmarks in addition to street names.

"We want to present all of this information on a Heads-Up Display in the driver's eye-line, so the driver doesn't have to seek it out for themselves and take their eyes off the road ahead," added Epple.