Autonomy and clean energy are among the two most important advancements poised to revolutionize personal transportation. As Mitsubishi highlights, however, not all forward-looking ideas have to be rooted in advanced technology.
Mitsubishi Electric on Tuesday announced the Safe and Secure Lighting system which uses a combination of large, easy-to-understand road-surface projections and car-body displays to more clearly indicate vehicle movement.
If you're backing up, for example, the system will project illuminated arrows on the ground behind your vehicle. When you open a door, the vehicle's rear glass will show a warning sign and a door opening indicator will shine down on the road beside the door in clear view of pedestrians and other vehicles.
The driver's actions automatically trigger the system so no additional input is needed.
It's rudimentary, sure, but it also sounds incredibly practical and effective.
The current iteration appears to only work with reverse and door-opening actions. With any luck, future revisions will add turn signals to bolster fixed-signal visibility.
Naturally, the system is most effective at night which, according to research cited by Mitsubishi, is when 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities on roads occur.
Mitsubishi plans to demonstrate select features of the Safe and Secure Lighting system using its Electric EMIRAI4 concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show 2017 later this month.