By: IOL Motoring Staff
Whitley, West Midlands - Imagine if you could see right through the engine compartment of your Land Rover Discovery to where the front wheels are bouncing from rock to rock, visually guiding the wheels through every centimetre of each obstacle.
Science fiction? No, a new system developed by Land Rover, called Transparent Bonnet, does just that by making the front of the car 'virtually' invisible.
And it's not pie in the sky either; it combines existing technology - parking sensor-type cameras in the grille and a head-up display on the inside of the windshield - to create a 'see-through' view of the terrain under the bonnet and engine bay.
The display shows a driver on a steep incline or manoeuvring in a confined space an augmented reality view of not only the ground immediately in front of the car but also the angle and position of the front wheels.
THE BOFFIN SAYS
Jaguar Land Rover director of research and technology Dr Wolfgang Epple said: "We believe the next 25 years will be the most exciting the automotive industry has yet experienced, with huge strides in environmental innovation, safety and capability.
"As our vehicles become more capable and autonomous off-road, we will ensure the driver has the confidence to allow the car to continue to progress, over any terrain.
"New technologies such as this will give drivers an augmented view of reality to help them tackle anything from the toughest off-road route to the tight confines of an urban car park."
UP AND RUNNING
The Transparent Bonnet display is already off the test bench and operational, in the Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept, which will premiere at the New York motor show on 16 April.
The concept demonstrates Land Rover's design vision for a future family of premium SUVs built on Land Rover's key principles of emotive design, unrivalled capability and class-leading versatility, with new driver aids to make driving the SUVs of tomorrow safer, greener and more fun.