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TV cameras track the eyes of the driver and the two headlights swivel to throw a narrow beam of light where he is looking.
This avoids flooding the entire road with light, being a nuisance to cars coming the other way, and conserves energy.
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So when you're looking ahead, you don't see the small child, the cyclist, or the grizzly bear just out of the lamps' beam until you've collided. |
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Old Citroen Dianes had steerable headlamps that moved with where the wheels were going... Not quite the same thing, I know. |
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I think it was the DS 21; the Dyane was the nasty little one based on the 2CV. |
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The new IR lamp system being fitted to some Mercedes-Benz and Honda models shows promise. The light is invisible to oncoming traffic yet picks up objects out to about 150m in front of the car. |
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Swivelling headlights are also coming back into vogue, especially on the newer Lexus models, I think. They were used on the Citroen DS 21 and DS 21 Pallas, by way of a mechanical linkage to the steering but only for the high beam lights. |
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Friends of ours had one, when I was a child. It also had a few other great safety features, like anti-dive and self-levelling suspension, as well as a single spoke offset steering wheel, to deflect the driver away from the steering column, in the event of a crash. It also had disc brakes and a rubber brake pedal, which were both way ahead of their time. |
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I think they were collaborating with Maserati, on some of the safety features and build costs, at the time. The Maserati-engined SM got many of the features and an engine that saw it claim the title of fastest front drive car in the world, in 1968. |
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[neelandan], what happens when you look into the back seat briefly, to see what the kids are doing? |
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[UB]: That was kinda my point. Most of the time, when you're driving you're not looking ahead; you're glancing at the curb, at the mirrors, at the instruments, at the side-roads. A broad spread of light enable you to do this without your eyes having to re-adjust to a new light level; you already have an idea of what's there, you just need to look for more detail. |
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Yeah. The obvious solution is a combination broad spread beam at reasonably low intensity, high intensity fan spread to highlight the upcoming terrain and IR to pick out livestock, pedestrians and surprises like daredevils engaged in sex in the middle of the road (Yes, it happens). |
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The interior light comes on, obviously, duh! |
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