Jaguar Introduces Virtual Windscreen Concept With Ghost Cars And Virtual Driving Lanes

What are the differences between real driving and the driving you do in a video game? Well, for starters; the way that you look at the road varies greatly. Take out your car for a ride and then compare it to driving a car in Gran Turismo. What feels cooler and more interactive? Yeah, we thought so and so did Jaguar when they started working on what is being termed as ‘virtual windscreen concept’.

So what is this concept really about? In a nutshell; this will allow you to experience real life driving from a gamer’s perspective. The concept entails hazards cautions, speed and navigation icons all displayed on the screen. However, the best part of this concept comes into play when the performance drivers employ this technology on the track to enjoy the privileges of virtual racing lines, brake guidance, ghost cars and virtual cones all being projected on the windscreen for the driver to use.

Research and Technology Director at Jaguar, Dr. Wolfgang Epple, says; ‘Showing virtual images that allow the driver to accurately judge speed and distance will enable better decision-making and offer real benefits for everyday driving on the road or the track.’

Sounds cool, right? Well check this awesome feature out too; gesture control system to free the driver from remembering the controls and reaching for them. The concept employs a technology known as e-field sensing that relies on capacitive discharge touch screens. The e-field sensing is responsive to a distance of 15 cm and for comparison’s sake; a smartphone’s screen is responsive to a distance of 5mm.

Dr. Epple says; ‘Gesture control has become an accepted form of controlling anything from TV sets to games consoles. The system is currently being tested on a number of features including sun blinds, rear wipers and sat nav maps. It has the potential to be on sale within the next few years.’
There are also plans to introduce technology that will replace rear view mirrors along with external mirrors by making use of virtual displays coupled with cameras. However, although it may look like a video game, but remember; you won’t be able to hit retry and start over if you hit the car into another car or a barrier!

New Fuel Concept Would Power A Car For 100 Years

There are now over one billion cars traveling roads around the world directly and indirectly costing trillions of dollars in material resources, time and noxious emissions. Imagine all these cars running cleanly for 100 years on just 8 grams of fuel each.

Laser Power Systems (LPS) from Connecticut, USA, is developing a new method of automotive propulsion with one of the most dense materials known in nature: thorium. Because thorium is so dense it has the potential to produce tremendous amounts of heat. The company has been experimenting with small bits of thorium, creating a laser that heats water, produces steam and powers a mini turbine.

To put it in perspective, 8 grams of Thorium produce enough power for a car to drive 1 million miles.

Thorium is similar in structure to the element uranium. Because it is an incredibly a dense material it has the potential to produce tremendous heat, and thus energy.

Charles Stevens, the CEO of Laser Power Systems CEO, explains that just one gram of thorium yields more energy than 28,000 liters of gasoline.

Just eight grams of thorium, Stevens explains, would produce more energy than the vehicle could use in its entire life, without the need for refueling… ever.

Stevens explained in an interview with Ward’s Auto, that small pieces of thorium have been used to generate heat, being positioned to create a thorium laser in the vehicle. The laser heats water which produces steam, which in turn powers a series of “mini-turbines.”

The entire engine weighs only about 500 lbs and is light and compact enough to fit under the hood of any conventional vehicle.

Stevens and his 40 employees are now trying to answer the question of:

“How do you take the laser and put these things together efficiently?”

The question is not, however, “if” they can get it to work, but “when” they can get it efficiently produced."

"When they do, they will have a vehicle that will wear out before the engine. there is no oil, no emissions – nothing.”

Far from conceptual, this has worked in the thorium-powered 2009, Cadillac World Thorium Fuel Concept, presented by Loren Kulesus.

Aside from adjusting this innovative model’s 24 tyres every five years, Kulesus explained that nothing else would need to be added to the vehicle, including fuel for more than a century of use.

Source: Internet (industrytap.com)