GM demos cars that "see"

Earlier this week, GM demonstrated cars that can "see" other cars. Addding vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication capability to cars already equipped with GPS allows GM's test cars to know where other cars are - whether in your blind spot, in a hidden driveway or around a blind corner.

Conceivably, V2V-equipped cars could do away with complex systems that attempt to integrate multiple safety sensors, such as long range radar, forward vision sensors, mid-range blind spot detection sensors and long-range lane change assist sensors. (Of course, everyone would need to have V2V and GPS for this to work.)

GM demo?d a V2V blind spot assist scenario, using warning lights embedded in the side mirrors (first photo) and adding vibration alerts if the driver hits the turn signal while another car is in his blind spot. The second photo shows an alert display warning the driver of a stopped car ahead.

Communications technologies similar to GM?s V2V system are under development in Japan and Europe.

[Source: GM]