Augmented Reality has a number of uses related to vehicles such as BMW’s concept of unskilled people being able to fix car’s by wearing a headset that shows you the steps you need to take to fix a faulty part.
Another use of augmented reality I came across today was that of a car system that allows the driver to see around bends. The system uses two cameras with one recording what the driver sees and another recording what’s hidden behind a corner. By mixing the two images together the driver is able to see a transparent building that reveals what is behind allowing you to drive more safely. The images are superimposed on each other and the second remote cameras image is then adjusted to fit in to perspective with what the driver would see, should the building not be there.
The next step researches at Carnegie Mellon University are taking is to use the data from road side cameras to project on to the windscreen of nearby cars what exactly is around the next corner. It’s an interesting move although it would take a lot of cameras to cover all corners of the earth. Check out the video below showing the concept working…
Via: TechChee, GizmoWatch and NewScientist
ok – that *is* pretty impressive