Futuristic Headlight Technology Turns Rain Invisible

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Intel and Carnegie Mellon University are working with newly developed technology that one day in the near future, will render rain droplets invisible to the cars passengers, making for safer driving conditions in the rain. The projected date for the technology to find its way to automobiles is around 10 years away.
 
When it is raining hard enough for visibility to be a problem...it isn't just what your light beams are lighting up,...it is all the water pounding your windshield, as well as all the wheel spray.
 
caddys83 said:
old folks are going to forget its raining and end up in a ditch
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Hey...watch your mouth you little whipper-snapper.....;)

I don't understand technology like this. Common sense would tell me that it's better to learn to drive within your REAL limits.

I see lots of accidents on the horizon.
 
Someone told that guy that a lot of head movement is the key to giving a good presentation.
 
caddys83 said:
old folks are going to forget its raining and end up in a ditch
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I'd be just as worried about the young punks out there as I would the old people.

The youth of today are a bunch of non-drivin' individuals, I tell ya.
 
I remember seeing this tech posted about a year ago too. Maybe wasn't the [H] though.
 
This isn't exactly new.. I remember reading about it months ago.
 
i'd rather have a johnny cab, or that automated car from the original timecop....just pass out and be driven home without the worry about visibility
 
sfsuphysics said:
Or you could slow the fuck down if rain is being driven that hard at you.
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+1
when I was young and dumb(er) I used to think I could drive like normal in the rain because I had young fresh eyes that could see a flea on a dog's nose at a 100 yards in the dark and lightning reflexes that could catch a humming bird by its toe. I survived that stupidity but it doesnt mean it was safe.
 
well, until road grime builds up enough anyway (the projector)
or a small pebble from the road surface gives you a series of dead pixels

The only way I can see this working at all is if the glass of the windshield were to be the screen itself. It would be interesting to see what happens when we start hearing about "windshields getting hacked".
 
People drive with lamps on?

I see alot of drivers with lamps off at night when there are street lamps and they think its ok. Hell be damned if they use them in the rain.
 
royce321 said:
i'd rather have a johnny cab, or that automated car from the original timecop....just pass out and be driven home without the worry about visibility
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This. They should focus more on vehicles that can drive themselves and talk to other vehicles around them. Not worry about projected wind screen images and processing power. There is a helluva lot more to gain by having networked cars. Traffic congestion will drop as vehicles are in sync, leads to higher energy efficency. Saves on crashes due to morons on phones, they can then do phone stuff all they want then, or even shop online on their way to the store.

Cars can then drive themselves home and come back later to get you. This stuff has so many possibilities that people just don't realise.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Or you could slow the fuck down if rain is being driven that hard at you.
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After driving from Rosenburg to the Woodlands in a Houston downpour.. the best option would be for those who can't handle it to just stay home :p

Seriously... I understand driving a little slower, but jesus it was like people were actually trying to loose a race against a snail... while driving around with hazard lights blinking. Meanwhile, I'm trying to drive at a normal speed and they are causing traffic congestion cause they can't figure out what to do with a little rain....
 
So if the rain is falling really, really thick, that means the projector blots out so much light that you have trouble seeing anything at all and it makes it harder for other vehicles to see yours? If the projector uses a predictive algorithm, then what about wind and air blast from passing vehicles making the rain droplets and upward road spray move in an unpredictable manner? How about water running down the headlamp cover and obscuring the camera, or a nice splash from a puddle doing the same? They'll certainly have a lot of variables they're going to have to figure out how to deal with before such a system can work under real-world conditions.
 
The youth of today are a bunch of non-drivin' individuals, I tell ya.
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Well, it doesn't help that people are never taught how to actually drive, just how to obey the rules. As soon as something out of the ordinary happens, they're sol. Car starts spinning out on a wet road? Good luck with your average driver knowing how to get back in control of their car :p
 
My biggest issue driving is at night. With headlights from other cars. I feel like I'm constantly blinded because I can't see anything when a car drives by me. Lets work on that.
 
Interesting technology. I'd like to see the technology put into practical use before giving my opinion.
 
In the near future:
Police: "Sir, did you see the red light?"
Driver: "No sir, I was lagging."
Police: "May I see your driver's license please?"
Driver: "No sir, my wallet offline at the moment."
Police: "Sir, but I believe you will need to step outside of the car."
Driver: "No sir, I don't know how."
 
sfsuphysics said:
Or you could slow the fuck down if rain is being driven that hard at you.
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I dunno, I could see a use for this. It's usually safe to drive at speed up until the treads on your car can no longer shift water, and even then it's usually safe to drive slower up until the water gets high enough that you can't maintain speed through it and/or it floods parts of your car.

Visibility is a big one for rain safety, if you can't see the big arse puddles they are harder to safely avoid. There's been times when I've had to pull over purely for visibility reasons, the road quality is fine to drive, but visibility was so poor I couldn't see obstacles to avoid them even at low speed.
ninjaturtle said:
People drive with lamps on?

I see alot of drivers with lamps off at night when there are street lamps and they think its ok. Hell be damned if they use them in the rain.
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Where in the fuck do you drive? I've never driven in a place that people don't use their headlights at night, at the very least it's illegal and at worst I'm sure everyone has seen a car without headlights to know how bloody hard they are to see at night. Occasionally someone will forget to turn their lights on, but give them a flash to remind them and they'll turn them on... I don't think anyone intentionally drives without lights unless you happen to live in a town full of complete and utter fuckwits.
 
Most of my problems with rain, is that the ground gets wet and I can't see the lines very well.
 
pothb said:
Most of my problems with rain, is that the ground gets wet and I can't see the lines very well.
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Wear polarised sunglasses.

Disclaimer: I have never actually tried this and am not responsible for your crash if you attempt it :p But polarised sunglasses may cut reflection off the water and let you see the lines again.
 
seems like this would be more useful for snow than rain.

Then again I'm in Texas - we don't get much snow. We get plenty of 110F days though :)

This seems cool and all - but at what point will all the light be blotted out when it comes to a heavy storm? People have been driving in the rain since cars were invented -- the easiest cheapest thing people can do is slow WAY down. Everyone thinks they are some sort of pro/invincible driver when in fact they don't know crap. Even pulling off to the side of the road with your flashers on to let the bulk of the storm pass can be dangerous because there will always be one or two people that just can't understand how easy it is to lose control of a 4000lb missile.
 
this seems like a extremely expensive headlight.... You need to add a camera for each head light a computer with a significant amount of processing power. And a projector with a extremely bright bulb.

And yes i see people driving for what they perceive rather than how conditions are so more wrecks due to people thinking it is not raining as much as it is...
 
MajorDomo said:
Intel and Carnegie Mellon University are working with newly developed technology that one day in the near future, will render rain droplets invisible to the cars passengers, making for safer driving conditions in the rain. The projected date for the technology to find its way to automobiles is around 10 years away.
Click to expand...

Safer? I'm not so sure about that.
 
pothb said:
Most of my problems with rain, is that the ground gets wet and I can't see the lines very well.
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I believe that started happening 10+ years ago when they replaced the normal road paint with something that was more 'glowy' in the daylight. Whatever is in the paint now becomes invisible when wet. But I'm sure someone got a pat on the back for it.
 
Lunas said:
this seems like a extremely expensive headlight.... You need to add a camera for each head light a computer with a significant amount of processing power. And a projector with a extremely bright bulb.

And yes i see people driving for what they perceive rather than how conditions are so more wrecks due to people thinking it is not raining as much as it is...
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And you need to regularly check your lenses for fowling.
 
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