A new patent for Apple's unmanned vehicle - showing information on the windshield

According to media reports, the U.S. Patent Office recently announced Apple's patent on driverless cars. The patent shows that the system is able to collect the data monitored from the sensors and render it graphically on the windshield in a 3D AR technology. Judging from the sketch of the patent publication, the system can display the current roads, driving routes, distant 3D mountains, etc. In addition, in addition to real-time traffic, the system can also provide information on nearby attractions, interesting places, local customs, and more.

In the “Mission Impossible” movie, the HUD navigation on the BMW concept car once gave everyone a powerful expression. Although it is only a concept, it is not uncommon to apply HUD technology to vehicles. However, the vast majority are still used alone. The screen is not projected over the entire windshield. And the support for the AR does not seem ideal.

A new patent from Apple now shows that they are applying AR to vehicles through HUD-like methods. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's information, Apple has built an enhanced display content that can be used on windshields in new patent documents. With this technology, not only the navigation route can be displayed in the form of AR, but also the nearby attractions, local customs, and much other interesting information.

According to the description, this AR system will collect data monitored from sensors such as LIDAR and attach pre-produced 3D caption information to the current road environment to provide passengers and drivers with richer information content. In fact, not only the lines of navigation, distant mountains and invisible roads can be projected, which is equivalent to constructing a transparent three-dimensional map. For the rain and snow and other abnormal weather, it is a safer way to drive. Of course, since it is only a patent now, we can try to use a mini bluetooth projector which can connect with your smartphones to project the GPS content on the windshield.

In the future, especially in the continuous development of automatic driving, this technology has far-reaching significance.