BMW, which now owns MINI, this week showed off its concept for eyewear specialized for drivers at the Shanghai Auto Show. Known as MINI Augmented Vision, it’s like Google Glass for drivers. It uses see-through technology to present the driver with a range of information in their direct field of vision without concealing other road users. The idea is to “increase safety and comfort while driving.”
MINI Augmented Vision promises to offer a range of functions including:
- Head-up display functions such as display of speed and speed limits
- Contact-analogue navigation arrows painted “on” the road to offer directions or provide cues to drivers about nearby points of interest or open parking spots.
- A small icon in the eyewear to notify the driver of incoming messages that can then be read out by the car
- Augmented parking where images from the car’s mirrors are projected into the eyewear to help the driver gauge distance to the curb
- The ability to select destination points before getting into the car and having them automatically transferred
Perhaps most interesting is the X-Ray View, a virtual view that can present external areas or objects conealed behind the parts of the car (such as A-pillars and doors).
The MINI Augmented Vision was developed by BMW’s DesignworksUSA in partnership with Qualcomm. Powered by Android, the glasses use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor to be able to present all of the data in real-time. They also include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and GPS sensors.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS sensors along with a Qualcomm processor and Android operating system.
There is no word yet on if and when the MINI Augmented Vision glasses will be launched commercially.
