May 14, 2018—Volkswagen has announced plans to soon begin utilizing night vision technology in some of its vehicles. VW is introducing a night vision feature in its redesigned Touareg SUV, for example, though that vehicle won’t be coming to the U.S., as noted by FOX News.
An infrared camera integrated to the front of the vehicle picks up heat emitted by a living organism. It can detect animals or pedestrians from more than 400 feet away, and shows those organism as a highlighted yellow object in the digital instrument panel.
As the vehicle approaches, the driver will get a red warning light if the current speed is below 31 mph; if the speed is above that number, the normally yellow, highlighted objects will appear red. The vehicle will also give the driver an audible warning and pre-set the brakes to provide the highest deceleration rate.
Touaregs also equipped with the SUV’s available LED matrix headlights will flash light onto a person in a potential danger area when the vehicle is traveling at more than 37 mph. That function, however, only works outside of urban areas, where there’s low light, and a spotlight will flash at the person.
