MINI Coopers have teamed up with Qualcomm and a San Francisco-based designer to try and take driving experience to another level. The companies have created a set of augmented reality glasses that connect drivers and their MINIs in ways few other carmakers have explored. MINI's Augmented Vision glasses are basically a head-up display for the driver's face, designed to integrate elements of the car's onboard app ecosystem, called MINI Connected, into wearable technology. The glasses pair with the Connected system to project information directly in your field of vision. The BMW-owned carmaker introduced its Mini Augmented Vision technology as a concept at the Shanghai auto show. A pair of bug-eye glasses, containing Qualcomm's Snapdragon CPU, make up the hardware heart of the system. The glasses project imagery on the lenses in front of the driver's eyes, with a perspective that changes as you turn your head, as if you were at the center of a transparent globe of information. Turn to the left, and you'll see information tags appropriate for whatever real world object might be in view – then look straight ahead and different information shows up. The Mini Augmented Vision glasses serve up information in your entire field of view, rather than the small display area of Google Glass. The glasses themselves use two 720p projectors, one for each eye, two cameras so the glasses know what you're looking at, and a GPS chip for navigation. Qualcomm's Vuforia software draws the augmented reality features on the glasses. MINI Augmented VisionBusiness Insider The MINI Augmented Vision glasses is a design collaboration between BMW Group/MINI, Qualcomm and San Francisco-based Osterhout Design Group. The glasses themselves use two 720p projectors, one for each eye, two cameras so the glasses know what you're looking at, and a GPS chip for navigation. Qualcomm's Vuforia software draws the augmented reality features on the glasses. The “lenses” are two stereoscopic HD displays that project 3D images and feature WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. The device showed the driver street signs and big arrows that appeared directly on the road as he sats behind the wheel of a 2015 MINI Cooper S. The glasses also scope out potential parking spaces by using the car's built-in technology to scan for spots large enough to fit the car. MINI's Manager of Product Planning, Patrick McKenna, said “it's that next-level of head-up display, not designed to replace the driver, but to aid them instead.” Most modern head-up displays are safety or convenience features that show you how fast you're driving and detect potential road hazards. So, what's the “next-level” part? The glasses, in conjunction with the MINI's various built-in cameras and sensors, “see” through the car to show what you might be missing. The x-ray feature also works as a guide when the driver is parking, by showing a real-time view of your wheels through the car as you inch into a space. Mini Augmented VisionMINI USAA demonstration of the MINI Augmented Vision glasses “seeing” the wheels through the car to help guide the driver while parking. Jay Wright, the Qualcomm VP helping to oversee this project suggests there's potential for broader applications of this technology, saying “as we thought about the long-term vision of a head-up display for your life, it occurred to us that maybe it actually starts as the head-up display for your car.” The MINI Augmented Vision glasses are still in the early development stages, so it's nowhere near ready for retail, but it's a compelling glimpse at where car tech and wearable tech are headed. — SG
