So you’re the kind of guy that plays your racing games with all the assists on – you like to see your racing line and braking indicators rather than calculating it yourself, and you like to see the ghost version of your little brother’s most recent attempt so you can feel safe in the knowledge that you beat him every step of the way. Well Jaguar Land Rover is developing technology just for you then.
JLR’s new virtual technologies will utilise a host of new, and existing technologies to improve concentration on the road, and performance on the racetrack. That’s what they say at least. But what is this new tech, and how will it benefit us?
Jaguar’s Virtual Windscreen technology will implement the heads up display tech we’ve seen on other brands, however it will utilise the entire windscreen as a display unit to show vital information so that the driver’s eyes never leave the road. Hazard, speed, and navigation icons will be displayed on the screen simultaneously. But the most innovative use of this tech is the track abilities, which include racing line and brake guidance indicators, ghost car visualisations of your previous, or preloaded laps, and virtual cones that can be used for driver training, and ‘positioned’ as required.
Another bit of tech that will be utilised in the all-encompassing system is a new, high-precision gesture control system using E-Field Sensing. This tech will allow greater control via hand gestures, from a more comfortable distance from the sensors – again ensuring that driver focus remains on the road rather than looking for buttons on the centre console.
Other new tech being investigated by Jaguar Land Rover includes the removal and replacement of mirrors with cameras and virtual displays. Trouble has been encountered though, as 2D imaging doesn’t accurately display speed and distance of other road users. To combat this, JLR have developed a 3D instrument cluster that used head- and eye-tracking to create a natural-looking 3D image on the instrument panel – much like you’d find on 3D TVs, but without the need for special glasses.
It all sounds rather futuristic, and complicated, and is yet another way technology is removing the skill from the art of driving. It’ll no doubt polarise opinions, but we’re glad to see Jaguar is once again contributing towards the technological advancement of the motoring world.