The Future is here and it doesn't Have Mirrors
Close your eyes and imagine a futuristic car. What does it look like? It’s probably very sleek and aerodynamic, zipping through a modern city. This imaginary car doesn’t have rear or side view mirrors, did it? The future is closer than you think, reports Automotive News.
Mirror less vehicles, cars that are equipped with video screens instead of glass mirrors, improve safety while also raising miles per gallon. The idea has been proposed for years, but recent changes in Japanese laws have given the green light to this modern design.
Ichiko Industries, a Japanese company that supplies mirrors and lighting, have put itself in the middle of this new market. Ichikoh have already started producing the first product to be used in the new vehicle prototypes.
"Our job is to improve the visibility of the drive, with lighting and mirrors, but now also with cameras," Ichikoh CEO Ali Ordoobadi told the news provider. "There is a switch of technology, a kind of rupture," he said. "It's a really new segment with higher content, and that means higher revenue opportunities. This is the trend, and we have to be in front of the others."
The benefits of using cameras instead of mirrors is clear. Cameras captures an ultra-wide viewing angle and erase blind spots. Advanced technology also compensates for glare, and infra-red illuminators allow drivers to see in the dark. The mirror less vehicles will also weigh less and help raise fuel economy.
Ichiko’s first product is somewhat of a hybrid. The device functions as both a traditional glass rear view mirror and a digital screen that displays a live, clear, rear view video. The user simply changes the display with the press of a button. This gradual change allows customers to adjust.
The product, called the Smart Rear View Monitor, started production June 28, for a vehicle that will be on the market in August. The company is keeping the project somewhat of a secret. Automotive News describes the customer as a Japanese carmaker who will use the product in a midrange, low-volume nameplate.
Japan definitely has a head start on the competition, vehicle regulators changed the rules to allow mirror less vehicles on June 17.
Video quality advancements have sparked the change. Last year the United Nations' World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations approved using cameras, with certain specifications, to completely replace mirrors.
Ichikoh predicts that by 2023, around 29 percent of the Japanese market, 2.3 million vehicles, will have video monitors instead of rear view monitors, and about 12 percent will have cameras in lieu of side mirrors. The US is expected to adopt these regulations in 2018.
Other companies have thrown their hat into the mirror less ring, including Japan’s Murakami Corp., who aims to start production on video monitors of their own in 2018. Germany Company Bosch may create a line of mirror less monitors over the next three years, according to spokeswoman Barbara Zelenay. Rear View Safety offers a variety of replacement mirror monitors, but this change in regulations could easily transform the OEM market.
Though there are no prototype videos as of yet, the design could look something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fleTMDErKg4
