And they could even replace infotainment displays.
Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, CarBuzz has discovered a patent from Toyota showing how a novel take on augmented reality glasses could replace the traditional head-up display. The patent mainly focuses on how this device would block out external light for better clarity in all conditions, but the fundamental objective of the system is to increase safety, and there are several ways in which this could be achieved. First, some light background.
A head-up display (HUD) transmits vital information onto the windscreen, just below the driver's typical line of sight. This info includes speed, gear position, navigation, media, and other basic but important data. But even this has flaws and limitations, many of which could be overcome with a headset tapping augmented reality technology, and there are applications for other passengers too.
During the day, sunlight can make it difficult to clearly observe information seen on a head-up display, and that would be true of an augmented reality headset too. At night, dazzling high beams from other users could also throw far too much light into a driver's eye line, and so the patent discusses a means of adjusting how much external light is let in. This could be achieved using electrochromic glass, such as on auto-tinting spectacles or a car's auto-dimming rearview mirror. If this proves truly effective, it could even serve as a sort of replacement for sun visors, although we like the idea of a physical failsafe remaining in the car.
That's arguably the most boring part of the patent, so let's see what else is possible.
The headset would feature cameras, speakers (or earphones), and a microphone. The cameras would be used to track eye movement and to determine what's going on outside the car while also working with the car's own cameras, GPS module, and sensors. With this, the headset could transmit vital information to the driver as it becomes pertinent. For example, the car could detect another vehicle running a red light and provide a warning. It could clearly point out road markings and speed limits. It could detect pedestrians and cyclists. And it could instantly and intuitively provide a blind spot warning using no more than light, although an audible warning would be possible too.
Moreover, the system could help you identify a building before you arrive alongside it simply by looking in its direction, making navigating a strange town, finding parking, and avoiding hazards much easier. Most importantly, your gaze is never diverted from ahead of you. Even if you look away for some reason, flashing lights and audible warnings could prevent an impending crash.
The possibilities for displaying information are practically endless, and therein lies a problem. The system could also include media information and phone notifications. To ensure a driver's gaze returns to the road as quickly as possible, the system discusses a timer for non-essential notifications. Once your eyes move to, for example, a new text message notification (offset in your periphery so as not to block your view of the road), the eye tracking camera could register that you have seen it, removing the image from the display once your eye has locked on the notification area for a given period, say 500 milliseconds.
Regardless of what information is transmitted to the driver, the most important data will always be the most prominent, and superimposed augmented reality images will not be too solidly defined so as not to restrict your view of the physical object being represented virtually on the glasses.
While the benefits for drivers – especially those who are inattentive – are clear, there are more gimmicky applications of the technology too. Thanks to the fact that you'd have a liquid crystal display and speakers, a headset detected in a passenger seat could display either the information the driver is looking at or something more exciting, like a movie. Because of the built-in speakers, audio from the film would not distract the driver. In fact, the passenger could listen to Manchester Orchestra while the driver listens to some Beethoven.
Of course, there is something to be said about the safety hazards of blocking out external road noise, but most cars already have sound systems so powerful that you can block out all external noise. It's impossible to design something to be idiot-proof, so users will need to use common sense.
If the tech makes it to a Toyota Prius someday, it would be a novel addition. But it could also replace the physical driver display and maybe even the infotainment system too, taking us away from the silly craze of oversized displays dominating car cabins. That would save money, reduce carbon emissions, and keep a car's interface fresh for decades to come – all it takes is a software update to get the latest graphics and features.
Will it make production? We're not foretellers, but we think so. Chevrolet is developing its own augmented reality head-up display that spans the whole screen, while BMW promises augmented reality tech is closer than we think. With so many industry giants working on the same sort of idea, augmented reality tech looks like the next big thing everyone wants to introduce as soon as possible.
Keyword: Toyota's AR Goggles Are Way Better Than A Head-Up Display