The Wall Street Journal says in an article “Augmented Reality Windshields on the Way, Says Bosch CEO ” that Bosch sees augmented reality windshields appearing in the near future. According to the article, Bosch sees the car windshield as the logical expansion of the display area used in the car.
Bosch is one of the suppliers of today’s head up displays (HUD) which is already available on many cars. The difference here is that a HUD will put the displayed information always in the same position, as the optical combiner, and the driver’s eyes are fixed in their relative position.
The description of an augmented reality windshield seems to allow the system to create images everywhere. This creates the possibility of overlaying information on the real world. For example, navigation information might mean not only a right turn signal, but could show you exactly where to turn on the road. This will certainly be helpful in more difficult intersections. Not all turns can be announced miles or kilometers ahead.
As Bosch also points out, the augmented reality windshield is aiming at enhancing the driver’s safety, but also has the potential to distract the driver. There will be a balance required that adds information in a safe way. Similar developments have been shown by other car makers and device manufacturers. We have reported recently on the Land Rover/Jaguar development that includes projecting on the pillars to avoid blind spots. (Jaguar Land Rover Shows More Ideas for Automotive HUD)
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Overall this development is more a reflection on the technical abilities developed at the moment, rather than the demand from drivers. As we have discussed before, augmented reality is not doing very well in the consumer space at the moment, and many developers are focusing on corporate solutions instead. The automotive field is another space that could make use of this new technology. However, we have seen some pretty wild implementations that turn the car’s windshield into a game station. That’s not the direction we will see implemented in real life.
Automotive regulations are country-based and without a more widespread acceptance of what such an augmented reality windshield is allowed to display, we are a long way from buying a car with technology any time soon. Bosch may be able to pull this off in the next five years from a technology standpoint, but that does not mean that we will be able to use this technology on the road. (NH)
