Jaguar Land Rover has revealed it is carrying out 360° Virtual Urban Windscreen research, which uses transparent roof pillars to give the driver an uninterrupted view of the road around.  It is also working on a “follow me ghost car” to aid navigation on busy urban roads. These new technologies are being developed by Jaguar Land Rover to reduce the potential for accidents.

Under the technology a screen would be embedded in the surface of each pillar inside the car and would take a live video feed from cameras covering the angles outside the car usually obscured in the blind spots created by the pillars. It means pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles would be visible all around the car.

When the driver indicates to change direction, when they move their head to look over their shoulder during an overtake manoeuvre, or as the vehicle approaches a junction, the system would automatically make the left or right-hand side pillars transparent.

Dr Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), said: "Our ultimate aim is to reduce road accidents and enhance the urban driving experience. The Jaguar Land Rover research team is developing this technology to improve visibility and to give the driver with the right information at the right time. If we can keep the driver's eyes on the road ahead and present information in a non-distracting way, we can help drivers make better decisions in the most demanding and congested driving environments."

JLR researchers also believe the intuitive and efficient way to navigate to a specific location is to be able to follow someone who knows the best route. This has lead to the team developing a 'Follow-MeGhost Car', which projects an image of a vehicle in front of the driver's car for them to follow, turn by turn, to their destination on a head-up display.

"Driving on city streets can be a stressful experience, but imagine being able to drive across town without having to look at road signs, or be distracted trying to locate a parking space as you drive by," added Dr Epple. "We want to present all of this information on a Heads-Up Display in the driver's eye-line, so the driver doesn't have to seek it out for themselves and take their eyes off the road ahead."