Smart driving CES: What changes will be brought about by using AR technology in cars?

Perhaps the reality is too unsatisfactory, and human beings always have a "fault" that likes fantasy. Whenever you can't sleep at night and toss and turn, do you often fantasize about the impossible? This fantasy was called "dream" in the mouth of the previous generation, but with the development of the times, it has a more scientific name-virtual reality.

The birth of the first idea of virtual reality can be traced back to a novel called Pygmalion's Glasses during World War II. In the story, Professor Elf invented a pair of glasses that can make people see, hear and smell all kinds of things. This is the first time in human history to describe the idea of virtual reality in writing.

Do you think this "glasses" look familiar?

Yes, this is the prototype of VR technology in the fire in previous years. Since Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion, the concept of virtual reality has not stopped until HTC? VIVE is listed globally, and we finally have the opportunity to touch our "dreams" with our own hands.

Unfortunately, it backfired. HTC？ The listing of VIVE did not make the VR industry develop rapidly, but gradually ushered in a cold winter.

The bulky "helmet" of VR equipment makes it very difficult to move, but the "binocular display" inside the "helmet" can never break through the 1080P mark due to technical limitations. The most important thing is that we can't control the display delay within 20 ms, which leads to "dizziness in three seconds and vomiting in five seconds", which has become the most realistic portrayal of all VR devices.

The dream we finally touched turned out to be a "nightmare".

Just as VR equipment is experiencing the cold winter in the market, and everyone thinks that virtual reality will become a concept again, another technology has begun to enter the world stage. This is the real protagonist of this paper-AR technology.

What is AR technology?

Strictly speaking, AR technology is not a real "virtual reality" because it is not divorced from the reality we know. The full name of AR is augmented? Reality, called "reality enhancement technology" seems more appropriate.

The biggest feature of this technology is to put the virtual world in the real world on the screen and interact with human beings.

I know this sentence is hard to understand. Let me give you an example to understand. At present, the most representative AR technology comes from a game-Pokemon Go. Eryuan fans must know what this is, but in order to take care of most people, let me briefly explain:

Everyone has heard of "Pet Genie", right? If you haven't heard of it, Pikachu always knows, right? Even my grandfather knows this. This game called PokemonGo can be simply understood as "catching Pikachu". When you turn on the camera of your mobile phone and walk in the real world, you will meet the elves in the "virtual world" on the road, and then catch them through the elf ball.

These elves, like real beings, are active on your mobile phone screen and stand on the road in front of you.

As long as you understand the characteristics of this game, you can understand the core principles of all AR technologies such as "Apple ARKit" and "Nintendo Labo". This is a technology that can provide "virtuality", but everything is based on "reality".

Unlike VR devices, AR technology has almost no barriers, and simple electronic display screens and unclear cameras can be realized. There is no need for a heavy "helmet" and there is no cable like a "snake" under your feet. Correspondingly, AR technology can't give you "the whole virtual world" like VR devices, and can only give you "a few virtual items".

Do you think "several virtual objects" look weak? Don't worry, give me a few more examples.

Ikea's IKEA? Place doesn't know if you have played it. This is one of the good application scenarios of AR technology. You can buy all the furniture needed for your new house without leaving home. As long as the data is accurate, you don't have to take a small ruler to IKEA to measure this and that. In the afternoon, carefully consider the placement of each piece of furniture and place an order directly online.

The Google translation application can recognize the words on the sign through the built-in camera and translate them into dozens of different languages. Is this better than any translation software for foreign language tourists?

Atlas of human anatomy, a three-dimensional animation reference application, is designed for all medical and health care personnel, students and teachers. The application program includes comprehensive three-dimensional gross anatomical models of men and women, selected microscopic anatomical structures of tissues and organs, cadaver slices and diagnostic pictures with three-dimensional cross sections, and interactive muscle and bone animations.

Through AR technology, the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor "resurrected" the No.2 pit, kneeling figures, bronze chariots and horses and other key historical relics. Visitors will no longer visit these famous scenic spots, but can truly feel the historical culture and humanistic customs of the scenic spots.

All this is due to the development of AR technology.

Therefore, through the above scenarios, it is proved that the application scenarios of AR technology are much wider than VR devices, and AR technology can be applied to all products with "display screen" as the core, such as mobile phones, game consoles, televisions, etc.

Among all the products that may apply AR technology in the future, there is another industry that is rapidly intelligent and scientific in recent years-the automobile industry.

What changes will AR technology bring to the automobile industry?

Recently, the CES (International Consumer Electronics Show) 2020 Innovation Award was released. The winner of this award is Futurus, which brings AR technology into the automotive industry. The mixed reality panoramic display developed by this company won the "car entertainment and safety" award. What is even more surprising is that it turned out to be a domestic startup company.

In fact, Futureus is not a "newcomer" in the industry. As early as two years ago, Futureus reached a strategic cooperation with BMW.

The company's specialty is automotive head-up display system (HUD). This year's CES exhibited light field projection technology led by ar technology. Judging from the published information, this technology is very mature. It can provide the driver with a maximum viewing angle of 60, a resolution of 80 pixels per degree and a brightness of 15000 nits.

In other words, it has excellent hardware parameters. Guided by these parameters, it is the function of automobile safety system, such as danger detection, road lighting, road navigation, entertainment system and so on.

We are not sure when, where and on which model this technology will appear. However, the development of automotive AR technology has obviously surpassed many people's cognition and started to keep pace with the above-mentioned application scenarios.

Some people may wonder, where is the head-up display of "AR technology" better than "traditional HUD"? Don't they all display information in front of drivers?

Take the simplest example: friends who often drive must know the "ghost probe". Suppose you drive on the road, the road is smooth and fast. But the opposite lane is very congested, and there is a long queue of vehicles. At this time, if someone jumps out of the opposite lane, you have a great chance of hitting him. (The author personally understands that everyone must pay attention. )

This situation is not uncommon, because the opposite lane is very congested, and the left side of your line of sight is almost a blind spot. As long as you cross the road without observing, no matter people or small animals can escape bad luck.

The traditional HUD head-up display is basically powerless in this situation. However, with the blessing of AR technology, the depth of field camera will automatically judge whether someone may cross the road and give the driver a hint. This new technology of avoiding danger in advance is more flexible and ingenious than automatic braking.

Therefore, AR technology is a very important progress for the automobile industry. I can even make a bold guess that in the future, autonomous driving above L4 level will come standard with AR display.

The concept of virtual reality seems to have nothing to do with cars, but it is integrated into the whole automobile industry in a curved way. Both VR and AR provide their own values in different occasions of automobiles. We have reason to believe that virtual reality will gradually become one of the pillars of the future automobile industry.

AR technology ≠ holographic projection

This is one of several classic misunderstandings. In fact, AR technology and holographic projection are completely different technologies.

Speaking of holographic projection, there is another explanation: holographic projection, holographic photography and holographic image are three different things. I'm afraid I'm going to write a paper. Let's talk about holographic projection, which is most easily confused with AR technology.

Friends who have seen Hatsune Miku Thanksgiving Festival on 20 10 will be shocked by the "little girl" singing and dancing on the stage. This shock is not to say how beautiful this song is, but to know how a two-dimensional figure can "stand" on the stage.

This is the prototype of holographic projection. Different from AR technology, it does not need any display assistance, that is, it refracts plane objects into three-dimensional objects through various prisms. Frankly speaking, this "virtual character" appearing in the real world is more shocking than AR technology, because you feel that she is "alive".

20 19 Shanghai Auto Show, I once wrote the interpretation of FAW Pentium T77. The center console of this car is equipped with a small holographic projection system with three characters built in. The meaning of her existence is basically the same as that of "NOMI", just to pass the time when ... bored.

Because the projection system of Pentium T77 is too small, the definition and display effect are not as good as "Thank you". But as far as the idea is concerned, it is still to the point of many secondary enthusiasts. Since then, this car has become a veritable "fat house happy car".

The purpose of saying this is because there are too many and complicated concepts popular in the automobile industry recently: VR technology, ar technology, artificial intelligence, holographic image, autonomous driving, 5G, Internet of Vehicles, V2X…… ....................................................................................................................

Facing the coming "automobile intelligence", let's clarify the logic of new technology. Know what you need and what you don't need. Is this at least much better than selling it to you in a 4S shop?

Write it at the end

Again: the real technology is to make people feel the existence of technology.

AR or VR. The development of every technology will go through countless branches and branches, and automobile technology is just one of many branches. With the completion of the current AR technology, it can be applied to automobiles in a few years. This is not only the development of science and technology, but also an important signal.

From CES, we can find that automobile technology is becoming more and more important, and some exhibitors are even willing to give up the opportunity in north american auto show to win CES. It can be seen that intelligence and technology have become the "real trend" of future cars.

Finally, I still want to come back and talk to you about virtual reality. This has nothing to do with cars, but with everyone's life.

I always believe that the birth of virtual reality is not to provide people with a shortcut to escape from life, but to encourage those who want to escape from life to regain the courage to face difficulties.

I also want to avoid bullets and save the world like Neo in The Matrix. But if Morpheus really put two pills in front of me, I'm afraid I'll still choose the red one.

Image source network, invasion and deletion.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.