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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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Life is to you a dashing and bold adventure.
(Score: 4, Informative) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 16 2019, @12:27PM (4 children)
The two problems with high-IR systems (which are the ones that would need IR headlights, they shine a non-human-visible light) are that a lot of objects in the world don't show up in brightnesses that allow you to distinguish between them and the background, and really bright IR light sources, even though you can't see them (no cells respond to them with nerve signals) still manage to land fairly well focused within your eye, and at sufficient levels can be harmful. "Not visible to humans" doesn't mean "not there."
Low-IR systems (where the objects radiate, and the camera sees what they radiate) are very useful, and particularly so in a heads-up kind of system. The problem with low-IR systems is non-radiating road hazards. Potholes, tree branches, cold stalled vehicles and accident debris, pranks. The road itself may not radiate sufficiently differently for a low IR system to distinguish it from the surroundings.
So while a low IR system is great for emissive road hazards, you still have to couple it with a visible light illuminator and/or radar or similar; otherwise you're just asking to have an accident. Radar has the same problem as high-IR; some objects just aren't very reflective at those wavelengths.
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Calories? I think you mean delicious points.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by deimtee on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:31PM (2 children)
Why bother with the IR? Just do it with visible light. Cameras and a videoscreen instead of a windscreen. Put a maximum level in the brightness somewhere and problem solved.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:51PM (1 child)
Well, for low IR, because it gives you something visible light does not: The ability to spot living creatures as standout visual items. A low IR system is a huge benefit when driving. Visible light shows everything, so it's totally up to you to spot things. And animals can be very hard to spot. But a low IR system will do it very well and make them highly noticeable.
Really, until you have seen a low IR system in use, it's difficult to understand just how much they lower risk.
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But, Your Honor, the light had dopplered to green.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Thursday January 17 2019, @04:16AM
Ok, my bad. I was more responding to your list of problems with IR, and totally missed your last paragraph.
But yeah, some sort of smart blending of IR/visible, possibly with data overlays, would be awesome.
One possible problem with the camera/display model is that if it is correctly set up for the driver, it is going to be so warped for the passengers that it will induce motion sickness, and backseat drivers are going to be screaming about things that aren't a problem.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday January 16 2019, @03:58PM
Thank-you for the explanation, I really appreciate it.