Doing its part to help assimilate your car into the Borg collective, Nissan showed off two new technologies that should start arriving as early as next year's models. One expands on back-up collision technologies to provide side collision detection, and the second is designed to help drivers optimize fuel consumption when accelerating and traveling.
The first technology, called Side Collision Prevention, uses a millimeter-wave radar to monitor a car's blind spots and displays warnings with small lights built into the two side view mirrors. A camera is also used to monitor lanes on a road. If the diver attempts a lane change when a car is detected in the blind spot, a warning sound alerts the driver and the steering wheel provides a noticeable level of resistance, which Martyn Williams at PC World said was easy enough to push through when the situation called for it.Other new and forthcoming features that Nissan has in the works, such as back-up collision protection (which other car manufacturers have already shipped), all fall under the company's "Safety Shield" technology initiative designed to make cars safer to drive. Some worry that these emerging technologies are eroding our fundamental ability to drive by creating greater dependencies on technology. But rising trend in overall accidents and fatalities, despite harsher legislation and enhancements like better braking technologies, is driving car manufacturers to explore new solutions in collision technologies.
Other new features that Nissan is working on, such as back-up collision protection (which other car manufacturers have already shipped), all fall under the company's "Safety Shield" a collection of technology initiatives intended to make cars safer to drive. Some worry that these emerging technologies are eroding our fundamental ability to drive by creating greater dependencies on technology. But, despite harsher legislation and enhancements like better braking mechanisms, overall accidents and fatalities are trending upwards, driving car manufacturers to explore new solutions in collision technologies.
Nissan will demonstrate some of its collision technologies at the ITS World Congress that will be held in New York this November.
The second technology Nissan showed off this week is a unique response to rising gas prices. Called "eco-pedal," a computer monitors the car's fuel consumption and transmission efficiency both when accelerating and cruising, and alerts the driver in various ways if his or her habits are inefficient.
A display in the dashboard lets the driver know if the car is consuming fuel at an optimum rate, begins flashing when performance moves out of that eco-friendly range, and eventually turns orange when economic fuel consumption is left in the dust. Employing a resistance UI again, Nissan designed the gas pedal to push back slightly to encourage the driver to ease up and get back in the green. The resistance can again be pushed through or turned off entirely, but Nissan claims that its eco-pedal technology can improve fuel efficiency by 5-10 percent.
Nissan debuts tech to keep you out of accidents, gas stations
