Jaguar reveals see-through A-pillars

Jaguar Land Rover has revealed its latest research project, known as ‘360 Virtual Urban Windscreen’, which aims to eliminate blind spots caused by roof pillars by making them invisible.

Designed to provide a driving view unimpeded by the vehicle’s roof-supporting pillars, the system aims to embed screens into the surface of each pillar inside the vehicle. Each of these screens would take a live video feed from a range of cameras, arranged to cover the external angles traditionally hidden by the pillars.

"Our ultimate aim is to reduce the potential for accidents and enhance the urban driving experience", said Dr Wolfgang Epple, JLR’s director of research and technology.

"The Jaguar Land Rover research team is developing this technology to improve visibility and to give the driver with the right information at the right time. 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 in the most demanding and congested driving environments."

The 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen promises to be intuitive by reacting to a driver’s movements, such as when they indicate or conduct a head-check to overtake, and adjusting the affected pillar’s transparency to suit.

An advanced head-up display would work in conjunction with the pillar screens and highlight the movement of other road users to the driver, via an on-screen halo projected onto the car’s virtual windscreen.

JLR is also investigating connection of the virtual windscreen system to the Cloud.

"By connecting the car to roadside infrastructure and businesses in the urban landscape, the Virtual Urban Windscreen could present information ranging from petrol station prices to the number of parking spaces available, so drivers won’t have to look for this information themselves," the company said in a statement.

Perhaps more impressive is JLR's development of ‘Follow-Me Ghost Car Navigation’, which projects a vehicle image ahead of the driver’s car to enable them to follow the projection to their destination.

Both technologies are believed to have been co-developed by JLR and German auto parts developer Continental, which hopes to see augmented-reality head-up displays in production vehicles by 2017.

The technology first appeared at the 2014 New York motor show in the form of an 'Invisible Bonnet' on the Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept, which used cameras in the vehicle's grille to 'paint' a virtual image of unseen areas for the driver in the head-up display.

How do you see such technology? Is it beneficial, or does it further dilute driver concentration by effectively doing it all for you?