Jaguar Land Rover previews transparent pillar, ghost car navigation research

Jaguar Land Rover director of research and technology Dr Wolfgang Epple said his team was developing this technology to improve visibility and to give the driver the right information at the right time.

"If we can keep the driver’s eyes on the road ahead and present information in a non-distracting way, we can help drivers make better decisions in the most demanding and congested driving environments."

The company has released a video (above) demonstrating how its potential future 360-degree Virtual Urban Windscreen would work. The system features cameras outside the car, which would monitor and capture the surrounding environment, as well as projection technology built into the car's windscreen and A-, B- and C-pillars.

As part of the company's planned transparent pillar tech, if an at-risk person or vehicle is hidden by the A-pillar, displays either built into or projected onto the pillar would allow the driver to "see through" the pillar. The at-risk person/vehicle would be highlighted by the system on both the pillar display, as well as on the windscreen.

Similarly, if the driver checks over their shoulder, the system switches on the B- and C-pillars' projection technology, allowing the driver to look through the relevant pillar.

With the proposed system featuring display technology built into a car's front windscreen, the company is also planning on screening navigation information straight into the driver's general field-of-vision.

The satellite navigation system could, in theory, show a ghost car that would make it easier for the driver to follow the system's routing instructions. Via an internet connection, the car could also highlight nearby points of interest and display supplementary info, such as countdown timers for traffic lights or the number of spaces available at a car park.

Jaguar Land Rover has yet to indicate when these lines of research may end up in a production vehicle or, even, a concept car.