Amazing new technologies have finally found their way into luxury cars.
The pace at which new technologies are finding their way into cars you can buy off the showroom floor never ceases to amaze.
It wasn't that long ago that hi-tech safety devices like a
lane-change warning system or night vision, which can pick up objects
normally hidden by darkness, were only seen on futuristic cars at
international motor shows before they eventually found their way into
the most expensive, top-of-the-range luxury models.
But computer-savvy consumers, especially those in the prestige market, are hungry for gadgets.
As part of a revamp across its sedan range, BMW has fitted both these
devices to its mid-range Five Series models for the first time; the
lane-change warning system as a $1200 option, while the night vision
adds $4000 to the price.
The clever lane-change warning system uses a camera fitted near the
interior mirror on the windscreen, which looks at the road 50m ahead to
keep an eye on painted lane markings.
It then works out the position of the car relative to the markings. Should the car start
to wander between lanes, say if the driver is starting to fall asleep
or through inattention, it sends a wake-up warning by vibrating the
steering wheel.
If the driver is merely changing lanes and has the indicator on, the warning system is deactivated.
BMW says the device begins to work at speeds over 70km/h.
The night vision device is probably more important for Australians
because 45 per cent of road fatalities happen at night, even though more
than two-thirds of all driving is done during the day.
BMW's system uses infra-red thermal imaging to pick out the body heat
of pedestrians, bike riders and animals on a dark road before they
become visible to the human eye in the car's headlights.
The system can spot an object up to
300m in front of the car and is not affected by the headlights of an
approaching car. An object detected is shown as a black-and-white image
on a screen in the middle of the instrument panel.
BMW looked at displaying the image on the windscreen as a heads-up
display, but tests showed the combination of real-life and virtual
images irritated drivers.
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