Technology is here that will allow you to see through vehicles, pedestrians and other objects – Explica .co
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ACD May 30, 2021
British researchers are working on an augmented reality head up display capable of seeing through objects.
British researchers have developed the first LiDAR-based augmented reality display for use in vehicles. Tests with a prototype version of the technology suggest that it could improve road safety by “seeing through” objects to alert to potential hazards without distracting the driver.
The technology, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and University College London (UCL), is based on LiDAR (Light Detection and Range) and uses LiDAR data to create ultra high definition holographic renderings of road objects that are transmitted directly to the driver’s eyes, rather than the 2D windshield projections used in most display screens.
Mitigating human error
2 photos Example of technology
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Although the technology has yet to be tested on a car, early tests, based on data collected from a busy street in central London, showed that holographic images appear in the driver’s field of vision based on his actual position, creating an augmented reality.
This could be especially useful in cases where objects such as traffic signs are hidden by large trees or trucks, for example, allowing the driver to “see through” visual obstacles.
“Head-up displays are being incorporated into connected vehicles, typically projecting information such as speed or fuel levels directly onto the windshield in front of the driver, who must keep his eyes on the road,” explains lead author Jana Skirnewskaja, Cambridge Engineering Department. «However, we wanted to go one step further representing real objects in the form of panoramic projections in 3D«.
LiDAR is commonly used in agriculture, archeology, and geography, but also being tested in autonomous vehicles for obstacle detection.
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Using LiDAR, the researchers scanned Malet Street, a busy street on the University College campus in central London. Thus, the entire street was scanned using a technique called terrestrial laser scanning. Millions of pulses were sent from multiple locations along Malet Street. The LiDAR data was then combined with the point cloud data, building a 3D model.
“In this way, we can join the scans and build a complete scene, which not only captures the trees, but also the cars, trucks, people, signs and everything that can be seen on a typical city street” , explain the scientists. “Although the data we captured came from a fixed platform, it is similar to the sensors that will be in the next generation of autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles«.
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