The Onslaught / Attack of New Car Technology

Continues . . .

Notable is the new Vauxhall, as currently advertised on TV, which 'reads' road signs for you, in case you've missed them.

My 9 year old noted the flaw in having to look down to the display to read what the sign was: "But that's silly - it'll mean the driver isn't looking where they're going and they'll crash into things!"

It also has suspension or adaptive 4x4 which - their words as far as I can remember - can cope with "Impossible conditions". Perhaps their dictionary has a different definition of 'impossible . . .



And another idea 'coming soon' is adaptive headlamps.

According to this,

The range-topping new Audi R8 is the first car in the world to be equipped with all-LED (light emitting diode) headlamps.

For the first time the high intensity diodes have been used for low beam and high beam settings, as well as for daytime running lights and indicators, intensifying the sports car’s visual drama.

The LED headlamp of the new Audi Audi R8 is the first representative of a completely new generation of headlamps using only light emitting diodes which in itself reduces CO2 emissions.

The first LED headlights in the Pikes Peak concept generated 18 lumens while the next generation of white high-performance LEDs hit the market this year with a whopping 100 lumens per watt – surpassing the efficiency of xenon lights for the first time.

“Digital light” can be made more or less bright electronically and precisely adapted to a driver’s needs. Audi developers are convinced that future generations of headlights will react to weather conditions, a vehicle’s speed, the distance between vehicles, and potentially dangerous objects.

Huhn concluded: “We’re striving to create intelligent headlights and taillights which think and anticipate in the interest of enhancing a driver’s safety and comfort.

“For example, there are already high-beam headlights in pre-series development which will allow drivers to navigate roads at night without temporarily blinding oncoming drivers.

“This is made possible by a variable distribution of light: An electronic system continuously calculates the distance to any approaching vehicles to ensure that the road ahead is ideally illuminated at all times – without irritating oncoming drivers.”


And what about the comfort and safety of pedestrians and cyclists? Hmmm . . .



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