The headlights are older than the car itself and have not stopped evolving. Gone are the times when the Ford Model T used acetylene lamps in the front and oil in the rearsince lighting technology has been introducing successive innovations, such as the one Ford is preparing: the blue oval brand is develop a new generation of headlights in which the lighting will allow the driver to see even what may go unnoticed during the day. Imagine the headlights of the future as a kind of head-up display, only with the ability to project the information the driver needs not on a small screen, but onto the road. Is much more.
Strengthening road safety is the main objective of the technology being developed by the North American brand. The idea is literally to shed light even on what cannot be seen, and there is no shortage of treadmills whose stripes on the ground are barely visible, even during the day.. The problem is that although there is less traffic at night than during the day, and therefore less probability of accidents, the reality is not so. At least in the UK, where 40% of accidents occur at night, despite there being far fewer cars on the road..
Darkness is the enemy of safety, as are the “distractions” of those behind the wheel, with Ford highlights that “the risk increases every time the driver takes his eyes off the road”, since “a vehicle traveling at 90 km / h travels 25 meters per second”meaning that even a brief glance at the car’s navigation screen can result in ‘blind driving’ for ten meters or more.” Is for Avoid those momentary reductions that cover the eyes of those behind the wheel that Ford is testing new high-resolution headlights, capable of doing much more than simply illuminating. Curiously, this project “started as a game with a spotlight and a white wall”, recalls Lars Junker, of Ford of Europe’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems department. But this joke has become serious and is in the experimental phase.
“The new technology can project directions, speed limits or weather information directly so that the driver’s eyes remain fixed on the road ahead”, explains the manufacturer, proposing a range of possibilities that it says are feasible and advantageous both for motorists and for other road users. It would be safer for pedestrians, for example, to cross the street at night at a properly marked crosswalk. According to Ford, its next generation of headlights allows it to “project a crosswalk onto the road,” visible to both pedestrians and drivers. thus reducing the risk associated with worn markings on the road. Cyclists will also be able to benefit from the development of this new high-resolution headlight system., to the point that one of the hypotheses pointed out by Ford itself refers to a somewhat delicate situation in the coexistence of two wheels with four, such as overtaking. In that case, what the headlights of the future will be able to do is “indicate to the driver a path to follow that allows them to overtake cyclists at a safe distance”.
But Ford does not want to stop there and, in a way, is working to make headlights more “intelligent”, therefore necessarily connected. Thus, once connected to the navigation system, they can begin to anticipate the next curves, for example. Or show indications related to time, alerting the driver of a possible icy or slippery road situation. High-resolution headlights that Ford is testing and developing can also help drivers park. What? Depending on the brand, project the width of the car onto the road. With this, even drivers who are not very good at taking measurements will be able to more accurately assess whether their vehicle actually fits in that vacant seat.
Source: Observadora
