Following the introduction of their virtual windscreen technology a few months ago, Jaguar Land Rover now reveals an evolution of this system featuring transparent pillars. The pillars aren’t transparent as such, mind you, but they have screens embedded in them and they do the trick.

Those screens show a live video feed from cameras covering the angles outside the car usually obscured in the blind spots created by the pillars, thus giving the occupants a 360 degree virtual view of the road ahead. It’s a clever technology, but seems like too much faff for what it offers. Yes, a panoramic view of your surroundings is really cool, and yes it makes driving safer. But the cost of having screens embedded in the pillars must be immense. And all the energy they use…

But JLR thinks this technology will be a nice complement for their virtual windscreen which features motions detectors and stuff capable of tracking the movement of other road users. What’s more, they have made the transparent pillars feature more efficient with a system that would automatically make the left or right-hand side pillars transparent depending on the direction you are moving in.

Dr Wolfgang Epple, Director of Research and Technology, Jaguar Land Rover, 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.”