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posted by
martyb
on Tuesday January 15 2019, @11:27PM
from the blinded-by-even-more-distant-oncoming-traffic dept.
from the blinded-by-even-more-distant-oncoming-traffic dept.
Most people don’t turn on their car’s headlights and think, I wish they were brighter. Shuji Nakamura is not most people.
The Nobel Prize-winning illumination scientist has spent the past five years developing a laser-based lighting system. His company, SLD Laser, says the new design is 10 times brighter than today’s LED lights, capable of illuminating objects a kilometer away while using less power than any current technology. And unlike a regular, dumb headlight, the laser can potentially be integrated into current and forthcoming driver-assistance systems.
Do headlights need to be brighter?
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The Headlight of the Future Is a Laser
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For recreational use only.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:49AM (10 children)
Enough said.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:08AM (6 children)
So, picture a windshield which identifies the pulse frequency/phase of the oncoming headlamps, mutes them down to a still visible but dim level, and opens as clear as possible for the light pulses returning from your headlamps.
If everybody's headlamps pulsed with a low (like 1%) duty cycle, that could work pretty well in most situations. If your headlamps are "phase locked" with an oncoming car's, your system can dither the phase randomly until they're sufficiently out of phase and the oncoming lamps' illumination can be dimmed again.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:07AM
Sucks to be a cyclist or pedestrian in your world.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:50AM (4 children)
Cool idea and probably practical. You could do it with glasses too, instead of the whole windshield. And I assume you're referring to using liquid-crystal?
But a true genius had a similar and very workable idea a very long time ago: https://www.polarization.com/land/land.html [polarization.com]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:53PM (3 children)
Polarization is cool in lots of ways, but doesn't have as much potential as time division multiplexing...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:03PM (2 children)
Absolutely correct. I was just pointing out the time-frame that Dr. Land did this. I'm sure he envisioned TDM too! He is one of history's most under-recognized geniuses.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:27PM (1 child)
One downside to the TDM approach would be attenuation of ambient light...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Wednesday January 16 2019, @07:10PM
You inspired a thought that I'm writing before thinking about it, but how about VR goggles for all of this? I've noticed many dashcams have (some much) better night vision than I do. I see very well at night, but maybe too well. Yeah, I think I like the idea, until something goes wrong, but it's pretty easy to get them off quickly. I'm sure people are already doing this, but I'm curious what others think.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:18AM (2 children)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Wednesday January 16 2019, @07:14AM (1 child)
Or we could just mandate not using aircraft landing lights as headlights.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Kalas on Wednesday January 16 2019, @11:24AM
Nah, seems easier to just outlaw functioning eyeballs.