An Intuitive Navigation System:Augmented Reality on the Car Windshield

WALDIR PIMENTA(WPIMENTA@DI.UMINHO.PT)

CENTRO DE CIÊNCIA E TECNOLOGIA DE COMPUTAÇÃO

UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO

Context / Motivation

Most current navigation assistance systems (e.g. GPS devices) are HDD (Head-Down Displays).

Problems with this approach:✘ Driver has to look away from the road✘ Reduced reflexes due to the context switch

We can do better:✔ HUD (Head-Up Displays)

(superimpose virtual images directly in the driver's field of view)✔ AR (Augmented Reality)

(seamlessly integrate virtual elements into the real world context)

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State of the art2Product Year Overlay HUD AR On-road

Regular GPS -- ✘ ✘ ✘ ✔

Blaupunkt TravelPilot 2008 ✔ ✘ ✘ ✔

Wikitude Drive 2009 ✔ ✘ ✔ ✔

SuperImaging+GM HUD 2009 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘

BMW Head-Up Display 2011 ✔ ✔ ✘ ✔

MVS Virtual Cable 2011 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘

Pioneer Cyber Navi 2012 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✘

Proposed system -- ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Wikitude Drive BMW Head-Up DisplayMVS Virtual Cable

Proposed system3Requirements Challenges Proposed solutions

In complex intersections, precise positioning of the virtual elements is crucial to reduce decision errors and delay.

GPS is not enough for this: ~15m accuracy.Differential GPS (~10cm accuracy) is not widespread yet.

Enhanced positioning using outer camera and structure from motion (SfM) computer vision algorithms.

Such precision then requires correct motion parallax to avoid unalignment issues when the driver moves their head.

Specialized sensors or headgear would increase the system's cost and complexity.

Video-based head tracking with infrared cameras.

Finally, the virtual elements must be viewable while looking at the road (without shifting focus to the windshield).

Stereo images could solve this, but would require replacing the windshield with a more sophisticated display.

Horizontal lines (instead ofcontinuous virtual path) which can be fused due to lack of vertical edges.

Proposed system3

Fig. 1: non-stereoscopic HUD with eyes focused/converged on the road.

Proposed system3

Fig. 2: eliminating vertical edges should enable unconverged binocular fusion.

Research questions

Do horizontal lines work to avoid stereoscopy?Otherwise, enhanced windshields might be needed for AR content.

Is computer vision enough for fine adjustment of the GPS?Other components might be needed: accelerometers, gyroscopes, compass, mechanical trackers, infrared sensors, laser sensors...

What projection hardware is best for AR car navigation?In terms of size, display quality, robustness to visibility conditions, cost... (potential alternative: AR glasses).

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Thank you.