MINI Augmented Vision: Prototype Augmented Reality Eyewear From BMW & Qualcomm

German automotive giant BMW and smartphone chip manufacturer Qualcomm have come together to create a prototype augmented reality eyewear. The product titled MINI Augmented Vision will complement BMW’s iconic MINI range of small cars. The AR eyewear from MINI looks like the old timey glasses pilots used to wear while flying aircrafts like the Spitfire during the World War II but instead of being strap-on it has temples to fit over your ears. BMW immediately addresses the safety issue associated with smart eyewear by saying that all the information beamed to the MINI augmented vision will be shown in the driver’s direct field of vision but without concealing other road users.


When it comes to the features list of the MINI Augmented Vision they range from the useful to the awesome to the bizarre. The AR eyewear can being up useful information such as the vehicle speed, current speed limit, distance travelled and remaining in an area just above the steering wheel like a head-up display. The display on the eyewear can show navigation icons like left, right or straight on the road itself for navigation. Since the MINI Augmented Vision pairs with the vehicle’s smart dashboard which in turn it’s paired with your smartphone, it can bring up notification from your selected applications. For obvious reasons the message is not displayed on the screen but read aloud in the car stereo. The most awesome feature of these smart glasses is that they can help you see though vehicle parts like A-pillars and doors. This makes sure you do not hit anything while driving though a tight road. While parking the eyewear projects images from the car’s far side mirror on to the eye wear. This would be either incredibly useful or harmful to the driver depending on his/her knack for parking. Finally we arrive at the ridiculous feature which allows you to program the satellite navigation from outside the vehicle while you are wearing the glasses. Wearing the MINI Augmented Vision eyewear while driving the car wasn’t embarrassing enough for BMW and that’s why it even includes a feature for which you have to wear glasses while walking to the car park.


Finally if you put on your sensible hats on you soon realise that the MINI Augmented Vision eyewear is quite unnecessary since all of these features are already offered by the smart dashboard on every other high end car. BMW, the makers of the product have not declared any pricing or availability details because the product is just a prototype and it may or may not be for public consumption.

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