In an effort to make people trust self-driving cars, automotive firm Jaguar Land Rover has made a system that lights up the road ahead of the vehicle to let people know where its heading to.
British automaker Jaguar Land Rover announced about its new system it developed that projects the direction of travel onto the road ahead of the self-driving cars to let others know what the car is about to do next.
The technology, as per Jaguar Land Rover, beams a series of projections onto the road to display the future intentions of the car such as turning left/right, or stopping. This effort comes as a part of research into how people can develop their trust in autonomous technology.
Jaguar Land Rover’s mobility car door opens automatically when driver approaches
The projections consist of a series of lines or bars with adjustable spacing. The gaps shorten down as the autonomous car is prepping to brake before completely being compressed at a stop. As the car moves and accelerates, the spacing between the lines extends. When the vehicle approaches a turn, the bars spread out to left or right for indicating the travel direction.
Pete Bennett, Future Mobility Research Manager at Jaguar Land Rover, said, “The trials are about understanding how much information a self-driving vehicle should share with a pedestrian to gain their trust.
“Just like any new technology, humans have to learn to trust it, and when it comes to autonomous vehicles, pedestrians must have confidence they can cross the road safely. This pioneering research is forming the basis of ongoing development into how self-driving cars will interact with people in the future.”
According to Jaguar Land Rover, in the future the projections could even be used to share obstacle detection and journey updates with pedestrians.