Nissan has announced the commercialization of a new type of driver rear visibility system that integrates a wide-aspect, hi-res LCD monitor with image processing into the traditional rearview mirror. With the system switchable between mirror and LCD modes, the big advantage of the "smart" mirror is that in LCD mode, it can provide an unobstructed rear view without blind spots, and an enhanced picture in difficult conditions.
In conditions where glare is a problem, such as dawn, dusk and with a tailing car with headlights on high beam, the image processing software can provide a clearer picture by modifying the image. Similarly, in low contrast situations such as rain and snow, the image processing also provides clearer visual information to the driver, as well as overcoming the issues of a wet, clouded or dirty rear window.
Nissan plans to introduce the Smart rearview mirror to the Japanese market as an option over the next few months, with a global roll-out planned for 2015. We'll get to see the "smart mirror" system in action for the first time next week at the Geneva Motor Show.
Driving is a sight-response activity. Nearly all the information with which a driver makes decisions when driving, is visual, and Nissan has long been a strong proponent of better visual information systems for the driver.
It was the first manufacturer to provide a comprehensive information system for parking with its birds-eye view and for 360 degree situational awareness with its Around View Monitor.
Nissan's focus on combining digital cameras and image processing technologies to better inform the driver has been a highlight of its active safety R&D and the benefits will have significant roll-on effects for the marque, not the least of which will be great design freedom for the entire car in the longer term.
Parking has long been a problem area for human drivers, and the ingenious combination of the output of four corner-mounted cameras into a bird's eye view of a vehicle's surroundings, was one of the highlights of the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.
From its initial introduction, the system evolved to provide more useful information in easily-comprehended visual form with a Front Wide View Function and Rear Wide View Function.
When a driver needs to perform a blind corner turn, or when exiting a car park, the system can provide a 180-degree view of the front and back of the vehicle on the monitor inside the car.
Moving Object Detection (MOD) was subsequently added, and this informs the driver of moving objects detected near the car when maneuvering out of a parking space.
The cameras have also contributed other safety technologies, including the Lane Departure Prevention system, which alerts the driver when the car unintentionally leaves the driving lane. Given the epidemic of distracted driving precipitated by the proliferation of the smartphone, the technology is making it safer not just for Nissan drivers, but for all road users.
The camera systems have also been instrumental in the development of Nissan's Emergency Brake System, which detects a car in front of the vehicle and alerts the driver with an in-vehicle audible and visual warning and if necessary, emergency brake is applied to help avoid an imminent collision.
The Smart rearview mirror is equipped with a newly developed high-performance, narrow-angle camera and a specially-shaped LCD monitor. Matching a standard wide angle camera lens to this unique monitor could not be done since the images from the camera, when adjusted to the special monitor size, produced a low-resolution image resulting in an insufficient picture quality. To rectify this challenge, a 1.3 megapixel narrow-angle camera was developed so that picture quality would not be sacrificed when formatted for the specially designed monitor.
When the LCD monitor and mirror are used in unison, the transparency of the monitor and the reflection in the mirror can create an image overlap ─ a dual layered effect-making it difficult to get a clean view, but with the Smart rearview mirror, Nissan applied a unique technology to the structural design of the LCD monitor and the mirror, enabling it to function without any image overlaps.
Source: Gizmag
