Your future car could have a windshield with an augmented reality display to make the world have floating information straight out of the movie Minority Report thanks to a big investment from Porsche and Hyundai. The automakers along with JVC Kenwood and other companies have pumped $80 million into the Swiss firm WayRay that has been developing the AR tech to be roadworthy.
WayRay’s augmented reality tech projects virtual objects onto the windshield to overlay them over the real world. The firm claims that its system has “a smaller projection system that can be installed in almost any car model,” versus the head-up displays that automakers currently use. The AR elements can be visible to both drivers and passengers, depending on the needs of an automaker.
The company’s promotional photos show the augmented reality system creating a real-world video-game-like display with the racing line, braking points, speed, and lap time. The result looks straight out of Forza Motorsport. In the real world, the windshield could show things like construction zones and free parking spots.
WayRay has raised over $100 million in investments since the firm’s founding in 2012. The firm is now able to manufacture its own holographic optical systems, hardware, and software. The next step is opening a factory in Germany.
Many firms see augmented reality as the future of motoring because the tech offers a way to put more information in front of drivers without needing to look down at instruments or an infotainment screen. At the Consumer Electronics Show in 2015,Hyundai showed off a version of the tech that could display arrows to point out navigation directions, in addition to showing blind spot and safe following distance warnings. Apple has also patented a system that was able to take navigation info from an iPhone, send it to the car’s infotainment system, and then display the info on the windshield.
Source: WayRay