Jaguar develops ‘Virtual Windscreen’ to aid drivers

UK based Jaguar Land Rover has developed a ‘Jaguar Virtual Windscreen’ that will help drivers by projecting important data such as road hazards, vehicle speed, navigation data etc onto a vehicle’s windscreen. The high quality images will enable the driver to take better decisions by helping him to judge vehicles’ speed and distance, and will also offer other real benefits.

A gesture control system is also being developed which will reduce driver distraction by keeping his eyes on the road and limiting the need to look at or press buttons and switches. The gesture control uses E-Field sensing, which is based on capacitive discharge touch screens and gives a much greater range of about 15cm for sensing and tracking the driver’s hand and any gestures made in the car.

Also being tested are other features inside the car which could be operated by gestures and calibrated motion sensors: sunblinds, rear wipers and satellite navigation maps. The company is considering replacing rear view and external mirrors with a 3D instrument cluster to give drivers a improved judgment of distance and speed of other vehicles. The cluster uses the latest head and eye-tracking technology to create a natural looking 3D image on the instrument panel. Cameras then track the position of the driver’s head and eyes, and a software application then feeds the two eyes two slightly angles of a particular image which creates a perception of depth and enables the driver to judge distance.