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Nightime driving is an area that can always be improved upon. We now have headlights that turn with the steering wheel to essentially "see" around corners and detectors on the front of our cars that will warn the driver of something in the road ahead. Toyota took that a step farther by putting together a system that can recognise humans and feed the information straight to the dash.

The new Toyota Crown Hybrid will be equipped with a system Toyota has named Night View. By mounting a 1280 by 480 pixel LCD screen right above the steering wheel and using cameras mounted on the front of the car, the system is able to point out human forms.

Currently the system only works at speeds between 10mph and 40mph but Toyota is working to resolve that issue. They are also working on ways to identify someone who is on a bicycle and some of the animals commonly seen by the side of the road.

Another slight drawback is that in certain kinds of inclement weather, the system is forced to shut down due to overload. Another concern is how much each unit will cost to produce and ultimately hwo much extra the consumer will have to pay. This is also an area that is being refined.

Source : Autoblog