TRANSPARENT SUN VISOR FOR DRIVER'S EYES

A transparent sun visor for cars that only blocks a thin band of light over the driver’s eyes has been unveiled by Bosch at CES 2020.

The system uses a transparent LCD and intuitive camera, which replaces the traditional vehicle sun visor completely.

AI is deployed to locate the driver within the image from the driver-facing camera and determine the landmarks on the face ‒ including where the eyes, nose and mouth are located ‒ so that it can identify shadows on the face.

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The algorithm analyses the driver’s view, darkening only the section of the display through which light hits the driver’s eyes. The rest of the display remains transparent, no longer obscuring a large section of the driver’s field of vision.

As a result, the visor can block out the sun without restricting the driver’s wider view of the road and their surroundings.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US reports thousands of sun glare-related car accidents each year. Another study has indicated that the risk of a car crash is 16 per cent higher during bright sunlight than normal weather.

Bosch, which has traditionally been associated with home appliances but has recently begun developing autonomous vehicle and other related technologies, says the solution could help prevent hundreds of accidents.

Dr Steffen Berns, president of Bosch Car Multimedia, said: “For most drivers around the world, the visor component as we know it is not enough to avoid hazardous sun glare - especially at dawn and dusk when the sun can greatly decrease drivers’ vision.

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“Some of the simplest innovations make the greatest impact and Virtual Visor changes the way drivers see the road.”

The visor has been named as an honouree in the CES Best of Innovation awards in the in-vehicle and safety category.

Sunglasses are already a popular, low-tech option for drivers when combating glare, although such shades can pose their own wearable problems for people who already wear sight-correcting glasses.