Aston Martin's rearview mirror shows three video feeds simultaneously:
For the last couple of years, automakers of all stripes have been integrating cameras into their cars to make it easier for drivers to see what's happening around them. Nissan and Cadillac, for example, have offered camera-based rearview mirrors since 2015. British automaker Aston Martin, however, thinks there's still a place for the humble mirror.
At CES next week, the company plans to show off a hybrid rearview mirror that integrates three cameras. Called the Full Display Mirror (FDM), the company developed the unit with help from Gentex Corporation, an auto parts manufacturer based out of Michigan. The unit can [display?] three different video feeds simultaneously, allowing you to see what's behind you and your blind spots at the same time.
Related : https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=20/01/01/1644210
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Mirrors have been an integral part of motor vehicles for over a century. The low tech solution has solved the major visibility issues involved with driving and now car makers think they can do one better using cameras instead of mirrors. This may be an improvement in large trucks where visibility using mirrors can be poor to the point that obstacles directly in front and behind the vehicle cannot be seen but for cars it may prove to be a theft opportunity.
Best not to mount a mirror, or indeed a camera, directly in the line of fire of a neighboring car door in the parking lot. Maybe someone should tell them about the practicalities of life?
(Score: 4, Informative) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 05 2020, @12:38AM (11 children)
I have a Subaru that has a rear camera display inset in the rearview mirror. I always turn it off (*) -- maybe it is my old eyes but I find it very difficult to focus on the camera image displayed inside the mirror -- when it is on, I can basically see neither the mirror output nor the rearview camera output. I mean, I can see them, but I can't get a focus on either of them. I absolutely hate it because it defaults to "on" and so every single time I turn on the car, I have to shut it off along with the stupid compass heading displayed in the mirror.
Maybe the Aston Martin one would work better because there is a border between the images, so my comment shouldn't be considered entirely negative.
(Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 05 2020, @12:41AM (3 children)
For reference, mine looks like this: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/outback/outback11backupmirror2.JPG [cars101.com]
(Score: 2) by optotronic on Sunday January 05 2020, @03:00AM
That does look extremely unhelpful. I'm glad my Subaru doesn't have that. My 2015 Impreza has a backup camera that displays on the radio/infotainment device in the console. I find it very helpful, but it could be improved. (But not by putting it on the rear-view mirror!)
(Score: 2) by arslan on Monday January 06 2020, @03:04AM (1 child)
Yea, that's really annoying and poorly designed. Your review is useless since half of it is blocked for a video feed that is a bit too tiny except for maybe slow-high-precision driving like parking..
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday January 06 2020, @07:01AM
What happens to me is that there are two different focal points in the same plane making it impossible to actually process what I'm seeing.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 05 2020, @01:37AM (1 child)
Interesting...the old school mirror is giving you images 30 feet away or so...whereas the new school LCD display is giving you an image 2 feet away. Same reason I have to get my glasses to read my odometer.
I would love to see optics designed to make my cellphone display appear as a big screen display at a distance, or as you just pointed out, make the image in the rear view display appear as if it's as far away as it really is. Some sort of focal length correction.
Basically, doing the same kind of optical correction to the image as my glasses do now.
Getting older. Far away, remove glasses. Find somewhere to put them. Now something is close up. Now where did I just put my glasses?
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday January 05 2020, @02:43AM
I always liked those Full-width [nexternal.com] rearview mirrors but admittedly they look a lot cooler in a pickup truck than they do a sedan.
What I never liked are backup cameras, as I consider them to be for pussies. But if I were a normal person living a suburban lifestyle, I would have one to avoid backing up my lifted truck into a kid or pet running behind the truck at the last minute.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 05 2020, @02:11AM (2 children)
Interesting. We have a Toyota RAV4 that has the same display of the backup camera image in the rearview mirror. I find it to be difficult to use and just ignore it. I may have to look into whether I can turn it off completely
(Score: 3, Funny) by deimtee on Sunday January 05 2020, @04:57AM (1 child)
There is always the ultimate hardware switch [pmcsupplies.com] for things that refuse to turn off.
200 million years is actually quite a long time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06 2020, @03:44AM
Nah, something that power hungry is bound to have its own fuse in the box. Just pull that and you keep the circuit intact, in case you want to sell the car later.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 05 2020, @04:20PM (1 child)
This is Aston Martin, if driven "properly" there should be nothing in your rear view mirror except for flashing blue lights.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Unixnut on Sunday January 05 2020, @09:51PM
> This is Aston Martin, if driven "properly" there should be nothing in your rear view mirror except for flashing blue lights.
The first rule of Italian driving [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Sunday January 05 2020, @01:02AM
So how many BSODs can it display simultaneously?
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Sunday January 05 2020, @02:17AM (3 children)
I've been thinking about trying this with one of our cars for a while now. Replace the side mirror with a backwards facing Raspberry Pi camera that's buried in the old mirror housing to protect it from the elements. Mount a display to either the door or the side of the dash so that it sits approximately where the mirror would have been. Maybe add some IR illumination to that back corner of the bumper to provide better lighting for the camera at night. I have to make sure none of this is in the way of any of the airbags though.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday January 05 2020, @02:47AM (2 children)
Sure, as long as its legal to have no side-mirrors in your jurisdiction. I've heard of cops harassing some Jeep owners that took off the side doors (which is cool) but unfortunately the mirrors were attached to those side doors (not cool) so they were ticketed by dickhead cops for driving without side mirrors.
Cameras should be supplements to manual mirrors, but should never replace them.
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Sunday January 05 2020, @09:13PM
That's a valid point and I don't actually know if side mirrors are required or not in my jurisdiction. OTOH it could be argued that the camera is a fully functional replacement for the mirror so nothing is really missing. Not going to try and argue that with the cop though. They don't take it very well if you ask them to think.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 08 2020, @01:44PM
The cop just did his job (protecting the Jeep's driver and the rest of us) and did it well. He deserves praise, not abuse. The jeep driver was in the wrong.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Sunday January 05 2020, @04:54PM (2 children)
Australia burns down, usa airstrike assassinating foreign dignitaries in direct violation of every international law and convention.
At least the wealthiest people in the world will have .5% less chance of a scratch on their car they only drive for fun whose value could house and feed a dozen homeless people for a year.
If you are wondering how they saved up so much surplus for such fancy stuffs, they just did it by preying on the weak out of spite:
https://archive.is/ZinJT [archive.is]
thesesystemsarefailing.net but especially this shit, anyone still fanboying articles like this must really be living in plato's cave
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 05 2020, @10:21PM (1 child)
Right, because until every single problem in the world is solved, we should just drop everything and weep or something.
(Score: 2) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Monday January 06 2020, @06:56PM
that is a classic logical fallacy of the false dichotomy.
I don't mean to give up on all rearview mirror research, but at this time defending time and brainpower being spent on the fanciest rearview mirror ever is in any objective evaluation of the priorities here, unintelligent.
So yes, there is a way you can do things that require a lot of intelligence, that are however very unintelligent.
You dismiss my entire criticism by saying I am being an absolutist when I am not, please don't do that.
Whoever modded this flamebait does not understand the meaning of the word.
(Score: 0) by Coligny on Monday January 06 2020, @05:36AM
These setups have been available from China for 10 years minimum. I have been using one 3 input mirror for a good 5 years.
Rear left-middle-right with a video switch to display front left corner-front rock cam-front right corner when driving on trail or regular offroading.
If I wanted to be moderated by mor0nic groupthinking retards I would still be on Digg and Reddshit.