Although we may not yet be in the age of flying cars zipping from city to city powered only by the sun, there are many innovations that might soon revolutionize the way we travel via automobile in the near future. This, of course, will only keep us interested until Jet Packs and Hover Boards are finally invented. Cowabunga!
Here
are some new technologies that may redefine our driving experience in
the years to come.
Self-Driving
Cars
“Engage
Auto-Pilot” you say as you lean back in the driver's seat to switch
on the television and make yourself a PB&J sandwich. This scene
might feel like it's out of science fiction, but the fact is that
self-driving technology is the most plausible innovation in our
car-driving future. There are already many prototypes in existence,
pioneered by Google's 'driverless cars'. First invented as a way to
provide street view photos for Google Maps, these cars have been
relatively successful in utilizing a cutting-edge combination of
cameras, sensors, and advanced computing to safely operate on certain
streets completely driver-free.
Transparent
Trucks
Massive semi-trucks have been a constant source of danger on the
road. Their cargo, often a few cars or more in length, creates a
moving wall that blocks vision and mobility on freeways. These blind
spots amount to one of the leading causes of accidents and fatalities
while driving. A new technology seeks to remedy this problem by
projecting the corresponding image onto the broad sides of the
freight trailer. This way the truck becomes a giant movie screen
featuring a view of vehicles or hazards that would normally be
obstructed. While the science behind this type of projection still
has a long way to go before it's affordable enough to be slapped on
the sides of a semi-truck, huge breakthroughs are being made every
year.
Holographic
Windshields
A windshield that notifies you of oncoming hazards by pointing them
out with flashing arrows? Or that illustrates a better route by
rendering a dotted line on the road ahead? You've probably seen
things like this in nearly every sci-fi movie – a screen that
projects useful information directly onto your line of sight. The
truth is that these 'augmented reality' windshields are already a
reality in some luxury cars available today. While current technology
can only project information such as your speedometer and fuel gauge,
eventually engineers hope to integrate advanced computers and sensors
to interact with the holographic display. Thus your car would become
a sort of control center, using symbols and text to inform you about
essential driving information as needed in real-time. The only
disadvantage is that you might start driving like you're inside a
video game.
Picture courtesy: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xeS5as1n1vLFRgaCIbYUOdiy56Rdgu2co7MYN4q21WYmbQVM_y-x9ZgAyJ9i3ScVopu-vD6BKKyU3SFXH2DJnrgPZepfUFvx4uAYzU5bOJt3L3v4VfASmy3JbQOKW2bZsJIaX8r3bMw/s1600/future.jpg
