The first sun visors appeared in cars in the 1920s as exterior visors. A medical study showed that a car crash is 16% higher during bright sunny days than in normal weather. It wasn’t until the 30s that the car manufacturers introduced the interior sun visors. Since then, the design and functionality of a sun visor have had little to no change.
Now, Bosch took the challenge of reinventing the 90-year-old technology. In the early design stages, the creators realize that the drivers adjust the visor to cast shadows on their eyes. So, they set up to find a more efficient way to make this happen. They presented the new Virtual Visor on the CES 2020 and it won Best of Innovation for the In-Vehicle Entertainment & Safety category.
The Virtual Visor
The Virtual Visor features a transparent LCD panel with a camera that tracks the sun’s casted shadow on the driver’s face. Bosch used artificial intelligence technology to achieve this. The AI tracks the defining landmarks on the driver’s face like nose or mouth to determine where to cast the shadow.
The panel’s liquid crystal technology allows for part of it to be obscure while the rest stays transparent to not block the user’s view. In other words, the Virtual Visor uses intelligent algorithms to always know where the user’s eyes are. Then, the visor obscures a section of the panel to cast shadows on the eyes.
Bosch has set to change the world using AI technology. We cannot wait to see what other technologies the develop. Their CDO Michael Bolle said, “As of 2025, every Bosch product will either contain AI or will have been developed or manufactured with the help of AI”. The Virtual Visor is not on the market yet this is an outstanding technology that will improve the safety of car users.
YouTube: Bosch Designs Virtual Sun Visor
Photo credits: All images used are owned by Bosch and have been provided for press usage.
Sources: Bosch press / CES 2020 / US National Library of Medicine
