Siemens night vision and pedestrian recognition systems

Siemens' VDO Automotive division is pitching a couple of navigation tools at the Frankfurt Auto Show. The company's Night Vision system will be recognizable to anyone who has seen similar models available on BMWs,
Hummers and other cars. The system uses a combination of headlight-mounted IR emitters and an IR camera behind the radiator, linked to a small heads-up display that shows a composite image. Siemens' second innovation is a system that uses pattern recognition to pick out pedestrians as they lunge at you from the sidelines. Anyone who has driven in crowded urban areas and has had to hit the brakes to avoid someone who never bothered memorizing "cross at the green, not in-between" could use one of these; unfortunately, it's still just a prototype, so you'll have to keep your foot on the brake a little longer.

[Via The Raw Feed]