Anyone who works haulage jobs knows that your eyes are your most important tool on the job – and hauliers are known for their eagle eyesight. After all, when you drive for a living you become accustomed to keeping a keen lookout for a number of things at once, so much so that it becomes second nature to you. You know you constantly need to be aware of other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, animals who may have accidentally wandered onto the motorway, debris in the road, accidents, ambulances… the list goes on and on.
However, as much as you might like to, you can’t see what isn’t in your line of sight (unfortunate as it may be, humans don’t have X-ray vision just yet) – meaning that if something is around the corner, you won’t know until you turn said corner. Being able to see the unseen? Well, it’s just not realistic.
Or is it? Nissan has recently come up with an innovative new invention – something they call Invisible to Visible (or I2V) vision. Read on for more information about this futuristic facet that has entered the vehicle world.
I2V – What Is It?
Created through Nissan Intelligent Mobility, the new I2V technology helps drivers see hidden obstacles through the use of sensors outside the car and inside it with data from the cloud. This will allow for the vehicle’s immediate surroundings to be tracked, and the system will be able to anticipate what is ahead, even showing drivers what is around corners or behind buildings.
Not only that, this new innovation also analyses the environment of the road in real time and provides information about potential traffic jams, upcoming pedestrians and more. I2V also connects drivers to others who have this technology in an exciting way – friends, family and professional drivers can appear in the vehicle to have a chat or offer assistance. Now that’s what I call hands-free phoning!
Currently, it’s only available for connected cars, so those who work haulage jobs won’t have access to this technology in a work environment – at least not yet. However, who knows what the future holds? In a few years, this could become something that is found in lorries or other commercial vehicles as standard, and the benefits could be endless. Think about it; how great would it be if you could call your fleet manager and have a virtual version of him or her sitting in the passenger seat, giving you information about your next delivery, or if you were the first to know about an accident so you can bypass a road before everyone else gets the same idea?
I2V allows you to see the invisible, from friends who are far away to obstacles on the roads. This will increase confidence and road safety (knowledge is power), while making driving more enjoyable on the whole. Don’t stop keeping your eyes peeled for the time being, but before you know it, technology could be doing it for you – and wouldn’t that be a great bonus when you’re out there doing haulage jobs?
Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry. Connecting logistics professionals across the UK and Europe through their website, Haulage Exchange provides services for matching haulage jobs with available drivers. Over 5,400 member companies are networked together through the Exchange to fill empty capacity, get new clients and form long-lasting business relationships.
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