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Computer scientist Michel Ferreira of the University of Porto in Portugal developed a system that assists drivers in overtaking large vehicles on the road.
Ferreira adapted and modified the existing ‘Vehicular Communication Systems’ technology, that allows cars to communicate and update each other with traffic information.
“The See-Through System makes innovative use of these systems by tapping into the visual data being recorded by the forward-facing webcam that some vehicles have installed on their windshield. When a truck or bus ahead of you has this type of webcam, the system within your own car streams the feed from this camera into a transparent LCD screen built into your windshield. The viewpoint helps you judge distances and see whether any oncoming cars in the other lane are moving into view,” reads a description on Smithsonian.
The windshield cameras function as a kind of augmented-reality, allowing drivers to ‘see through’ cars in front of them. Ferreira has taken note of the possibilities of connection failure and real-time lags that might pose safety problems, and is still working on improving this device.
[via Smithsonian and Virtual Windshield on YouTube]
Computer scientist Michel Ferreira of the University of Porto in Portugal developed a system that assists drivers in overtaking large vehicles on the road.
Ferreira adapted and modified the existing ‘Vehicular Communication Systems’ technology, that allows cars to communicate and update each other with traffic information.
“The See-Through System makes innovative use of these systems by tapping into the visual data being recorded by the forward-facing webcam that some vehicles have installed on their windshield. When a truck or bus ahead of you has this type of webcam, the system within your own car streams the feed from this camera into a transparent LCD screen built into your windshield. The viewpoint helps you judge distances and see whether any oncoming cars in the other lane are moving into view,” reads a description on Smithsonian.
The windshield cameras function as a kind of augmented-reality, allowing drivers to ‘see through’ cars in front of them. Ferreira has taken note of the possibilities of connection failure and real-time lags that might pose safety problems, and is still working on improving this device.
[via Smithsonian and Virtual Windshield on YouTube]