Greetings, new and veteran DVN readers. I hope you’ve spent nice holidays during the last few weeks and I wish you all the success in the next 12 months.
In the automotive world, designers and engineers are already working on the car that you’ll drive in 2015. Driven by the financial crisis, the industry is in the middle of a revolution. The next decade could see more change in the cars we drive than the last century. The two goals of zero emissions and zero fatalities will be the guiding pillars of vehicle development in the coming years.
Here are just a few examples of what I mean:
Automatic parallel parking systems are already available on affordable cars such as the Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Tiguan.
Head-up displays on the windscreen will inform the driver without distracting his attention from the road, when to make their next turn or whether he is too close to the car in front of him.
Road sign reading systems are already available, while some satellite navigation systems will be able to give real-time warnings on potential safety hazards.
Pedestrian safety systems are developed with bonnets and grilles redesigned to protect pedestrians from serious injury. Car makers are heavily working on sophisticated sensor and camera systems where a car will automatically avoid collisions with either pedestrians or another car.
Adaptive lighting systems, evolving from Xenon and AFS, are starting to improve traffic safety in darkness. They automatically select low or high beam and control the position of the beam cutoff dynamically according to prevailing conditions.
LED lighting systems are being developed to reduce energy consumption and to increase freedom of style.
Driving Vision News will continue to offer you breaking news every week and driver assistance reports every month to regularly follow this trend of new technologies. We’re excited to have you along, and as always, we love to receive your questions and comments so we know how best to meet your needs. Keep ’em coming!
-Hector Fratty