Jaguar looks to the future with two new projects

Whitley, United Kingdom — December 15, 2014 — Jaguar Land Rover is working to develop technologies that will provide drivers with a 360-degree view of the environment surrounding their vehicle while a new navigation system will help them arrive safely at their destination.
 
Jaguar’s 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen and Follow-Me Ghost Car Navigation are part of a suite of new concept technologies the OEM is designing to reduce potential accidents.

The Virtual Urban Windscreen’s monitors would be embedded in the surface of each pillar inside the car and would play a live video feed from cameras covering the angles outside the vehicle that are usually obscured by the blind spots created by the A, B and C-pillars.
 
Pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles would be made visible all around the car—and by combining the transparent pillars with an advanced high-quality Heads-Up display, any movement on the road would be indicated with an on-screen halo moving across the vehicle’s virtual windscreen.
 
The system would automatically make the left or right-hand side pillars transparent whenever a driver indicates a direction change, when they move their head to look over their shoulder during an overtake manoeuvre, or as the vehicle approaches a junction.

By connecting the virtual windscreen to the Cloud, the Virtual Urban Windscreen would tap into roadside infrastructure and businesses in the urban landscape, delivering information ranging from from petrol station prices to the number of parking spaces available. The connected car could also enhance navigation by advising the driver to turn left or right at more visible landmarks, such as pubs or shops, rather than just road signs or street names.  

The automaker’s team is also working on ‘Follow-Me Ghost Car Navigation,’ which will project the image of a vehicle in front of the driver’s car for them to follow, turn by turn, until they reach their destination.
 
“Our ultimate aim is to reduce the potential for accidents and enhance the urban driving experience. The Jaguar Land Rover research team is developing this technology to improve visibility and to provide the driver with the right information at the right time,” says Dr. Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology at Jaguar Land Rover. “If we can keep the driver’s eyes on the road ahead and present information in a non-distracting way, we can help drivers make better decisions [even] in the most demanding and congested driving environments.”

For more information on Jaguar Land Rover, please visit Jaguar.ca.