Better informed, safer. Augmented reality can make the interaction between driver and car clearer and more immediate, reducing distractions at the wheel. Here's how.
On one side, increasingly complex cars providing an endless stream of information. On the other, the road and traffic, which allow for no distractions. Not even for a moment. On the face of it, these seem like two irreconcilable worlds. In reality, technology lends a great hand. Because while the information available on board is growing in quantity and quality (in the sense that it is becoming ever more complex over time), the instruments through which it is made available are themselves evolving — in size, certainly, but also in terms of readability and how it is displayed.
A trend that the Volkswagen Group has picked up on with great timing, as demonstrated by the already available head-up display technology enriched with augmented reality; the latter, it should be noted, can also be used in other fields, such as design. Importantly, we are not talking about expensive cars accessible to only a few, but rather the ID.3 and ID.4 — the two electric vehicles that currently represent the entry-level models in the Wolfsburg manufacturer's battery-powered range. Models, therefore, potentially within the reach of many. Coming back to the point, it is not "only" data and directions that are projected onto the windscreen: advanced software makes it possible to overlay certain symbols onto reality, through which everything becomes more legible and easily interpretable. Let's see how it works.
In practice, the augmented reality head-up display (HUD) divides the projection of information across two virtual levels, which nevertheless appear entirely real to the human eye. On the closer one — which "floats" at a distance equivalent in reality to approximately three metres — the information most directly related to safety is displayed: speed, road signs and other useful symbols. All of this is shown as a flat, static band, leaving no room for doubt.
Further away, at approximately ten metres' distance (with a virtual diagonal of 1.8 metres), information relating to driver assistance systems is projected instead, along with turn indicators, departure points and navigation destinations. In short, everything that does not directly and immediately affect driving safety has been placed here. This is therefore a highly rational arrangement that allows the driver — even without being aware of it — to give greater priority to what truly deserves the most attention.
If you have never tried an augmented reality device, all of this may seem almost self-serving. In truth, particularly in the case of driving a car (though not only, as the Audi case demonstrates), it represents a major step forward in terms of accessing a large amount of information without compromising safety. Let's take navigation as an example (we are on the second level, then) to make things clearer: at the point where a turn is anticipated, the system provides the driver with two indications.
The first is an advance notification at road level. The second consists of three arrows positioned at the junction itself, which grow larger and more transparent (to allow a clear view of the road) as the car approaches the turning point. To put it even more simply, this removes the risk of taking the wrong exit at a roundabout, for instance, or of turning onto the wrong slip road on a motorway.
Also on the second level, Lane assist indications are displayed. Should the vehicle drift towards the edges of the lane, the virtual lines shown in the HUD turn orange. When Travel assist is activated (the suite of driver assistance systems that manages the accelerator, brakes and steering, always under the driver's supervision), two green lines light up in the centre of the head-up display. Or again, if the ADAS systems are deactivated, a red alert is triggered should the vehicle approach the one ahead too rapidly.
While head-up display technology is relatively well known, the addition of augmented reality makes things considerably more complex. At the heart of it all is the Pgu (Picture Generation Unit). Positioned deep within the dashboard, in one of the vehicle's two central computers, it uses software that determines the positioning of the virtual indications so that they coincide with the points that need to be highlighted.
The front camera, radar and navigation system supply the Pgu with information about the surrounding reality. Last but not least: the virtual displays are of course stabilised, to avoid image distortion or instability — two eventualities that would render everything else pointless.