Augmented Reality Technology to Help Drivers See Around Blind Spots

Researchers from Japan's Keio University have developed an augmented reality technology that creates a 'transparent cockpit' for automobiles. To allow the driver to see beyond blind spots, the researchers train cameras on the car's surroundings, process the imagery to match the viewpoint of the driver, and then display it on the vehicle's interior, causing the doors, backseats, and floor either to disappear or fade. The team developed a new projector system that reflects light precisely back along the path it has just taken. By doing this, they can project the correct image, in its proper apparent position, directly at the observer – as long as the projector is close enough to the observer's eyes. In order to do this, we can place it on the person's head or mount the projector on the ceiling and have it track the person's movements. The retroreflective projection technology (RPT) uses a screen coated in 50-micrometer glass beads, which produces a very bright reflection. The system uses one projector for each eye, so it can create a stereoscopic effect with a single screen.

Transcript

00:00:00 this isn't a mirage this isn't edited footage this is a truly transparent car [Music] the transparent cockpit was devised by researchers at keough university in japan here the technology is used in a car but it could be used anywhere you need a window it's built a relatively simple

00:00:30 components but the real magic is in the retro-reflective screen retro-reflection allows the system to align the projected image with the eye of the observer with the right screens in the right place the car appears to be made of glass in an early version the driver had to wear a special headset that could track her movements

00:00:54 but it was cumbersome now the system is rigged on the car not the driver cameras on the outside of the car capture the obscured visuals that data is processed and the images are sent to a projector on the floor behind the driver the projector sends light up to a half mirror

00:01:15 part of the beam reflects onto a back seat lined in retroflective material the other part passes through the half mirror to the ceiling also lined with the material this allows the driver to see both forms of the image in the half mirror the version transmitted from the back seat and the one reflected from the ceiling that way she can see what's behind the

00:01:40 car even if something is blocking the back seat with a normal screen light comes in at one angle and bounces off at an equal but opposite angle but a retroreflective screen sends light directly back along the path it comes in on it works because the screen is covered in tiny transparent beads

00:02:03 as light comes in it is bent or refracted and then bent back as it goes out when the driver looks in the half mirror both the ceiling and the backseat images coalesce into one transparent view the driver can see the bike on the side the guy behind her car and maybe even one day the pavement flashing by down below

00:02:29 [Music]