Photo: Free Patents Online
Car-to-car communication is the next big thing on our way to driverless commuting and, as expected, Google is at the forefront of technological developments in this direction.
Well, Google, Apple, Mercedes-Benz and so on, but let's focus on our favorite internet search engine for the moment.
A recent patent claimed by the tech giant is aimed at developing some sort of inter-vehicle video-feed sharing that's meant to keep motorists informed about what's happening a long distance ahead of them.
For instance, if there's some obstacle on the road, the first car coming across it will register its presence and will send a heads-up to every other car in its vicinity. That's what Waze does right now, and all we need for that is a smartphone, you'll say.
Yes, well the way Google sees things, that column-leading car will be equipped with a video camera, a radar and also some powerful enough antennas to relay the information further down the road. The video feed would also bear important data like size, distance, and whether or not the object is moving.
This feature would also make overtaking a lot safer and much easier on a two-lane road, as the cars behind would have a clear view of the road ahead of the car they're about to pass. If this rings any bells, it's probably because you're thing about the Samsung trucks undergoing tests in Argentina that have an LED screen at the rear projecting the image captured by a camera up-front.
The Google system, however, is more complex than that and has wider implications. It also requires more modifications to the car, but rest assured: shortly, all new vehicles will have front cameras, radars and the ability to send out data. Google isn't really coming up with anything new, it's probably just trying to protect itself from patent trolls that could slow down future developments with futile lawsuits.
A recent patent claimed by the tech giant is aimed at developing some sort of inter-vehicle video-feed sharing that's meant to keep motorists informed about what's happening a long distance ahead of them.
For instance, if there's some obstacle on the road, the first car coming across it will register its presence and will send a heads-up to every other car in its vicinity. That's what Waze does right now, and all we need for that is a smartphone, you'll say.
Yes, well the way Google sees things, that column-leading car will be equipped with a video camera, a radar and also some powerful enough antennas to relay the information further down the road. The video feed would also bear important data like size, distance, and whether or not the object is moving.
This feature would also make overtaking a lot safer and much easier on a two-lane road, as the cars behind would have a clear view of the road ahead of the car they're about to pass. If this rings any bells, it's probably because you're thing about the Samsung trucks undergoing tests in Argentina that have an LED screen at the rear projecting the image captured by a camera up-front.
The Google system, however, is more complex than that and has wider implications. It also requires more modifications to the car, but rest assured: shortly, all new vehicles will have front cameras, radars and the ability to send out data. Google isn't really coming up with anything new, it's probably just trying to protect itself from patent trolls that could slow down future developments with futile lawsuits.
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