"Not a bad idea, but don't you want to be looking forward -- not behind you -- when considering your next turn?"
You mean as compared to down at your dashboard or center console? Just sayin'.
If this is a screen synced to an external rear camera, they can scale the image so that the 2/3rds of the mirror can get you the whole rear view, which make this an excellent idea. If it's just a mirror, they have to have bade the mirror slightly convex to capture the whole rear window, and that distorts your view. Or it's a flat mirror and you only see partially. Short of a camera/screen idea, a good idea poorly implemented.
While I'd love a camera so I could see around the crap we put in the back of the car from time to time, there's a good way to use mirrors not to have a blind spot already:
and if the GPS goes dark after every instruction, and is behind glass (think iPhone touchscreen tech), it'll turn back into a mirror when there's no instructions up. which would be leat.
"and if the GPS goes dark after every instruction, and is behind glass (think iPhone touchscreen tech), it'll turn back into a mirror when there's no instructions up. which would be leat."
Doesn't sound like you actually have a GPS unit. You don't just look at it when there's an instruction. People are people; you're not going to remember everything about the last instruction and you're not going to know what the next turn looks like or how many intersections you have to go before the turn.
You're also going to want to know the distance to your next maneuver at all times. The whole point of GPS is that you have this info on demand. It's not just about instructions.
It has to be on all the time. It can't flicker on and off. That would be even more distracting and obviously less useful.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Miguel @ Mar 24th 2008 1:51AM
"Not a bad idea, but don't you want to be looking forward -- not behind you -- when considering your next turn?"
You mean as compared to down at your dashboard or center console? Just sayin'.
If this is a screen synced to an external rear camera, they can scale the image so that the 2/3rds of the mirror can get you the whole rear view, which make this an excellent idea. If it's just a mirror, they have to have bade the mirror slightly convex to capture the whole rear window, and that distorts your view. Or it's a flat mirror and you only see partially. Short of a camera/screen idea, a good idea poorly implemented.
Tom @ Mar 24th 2008 5:33AM
While I'd love a camera so I could see around the crap we put in the back of the car from time to time, there's a good way to use mirrors not to have a blind spot already:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/mirrors/
and if the GPS goes dark after every instruction, and is behind glass (think iPhone touchscreen tech), it'll turn back into a mirror when there's no instructions up. which would be leat.
Jeff @ Mar 24th 2008 7:09AM
"and if the GPS goes dark after every instruction, and is behind glass (think iPhone touchscreen tech), it'll turn back into a mirror when there's no instructions up. which would be leat."
Doesn't sound like you actually have a GPS unit. You don't just look at it when there's an instruction. People are people; you're not going to remember everything about the last instruction and you're not going to know what the next turn looks like or how many intersections you have to go before the turn.
You're also going to want to know the distance to your next maneuver at all times. The whole point of GPS is that you have this info on demand. It's not just about instructions.
It has to be on all the time. It can't flicker on and off. That would be even more distracting and obviously less useful.