Drive Wire for September 9th, 2016: Honda Moves to Patent “X-Ray” Driving Aid

This week, a duo of patent applications from Honda gestures at an upcoming technology that would allow drivers to see pedestrians and other obstacles even when obscured.

Using an advanced version of pedestrian detection, the first system would detect multiple pedestrians and arrange them in an array on a head-up display. The virtual view would also include people out of the driver’s range of vision. The second patent relies on advanced car-to-car communication. In a line of three cars, all communicating with each other, the lead car would telegraph its distance to the middle car, which would relay the information, as well as its own location, to the last car, effectively allowing the final vehicle to “see through” the middle vehicle. Were the first vehicle to brake, for example, the final car would be alerted even before the middle car began to slow itself.

Honda’s no villain, but the company does seem to have stolen some of Superman’s x-ray power.