Now, if you know my video reviews on CNET, you know, I'm not a huge fan of 3D building rendering.
To me, it's like it's not quite enough.
These little matchstick buildings or they look like kind of what's really out there but not really.
They look like all the eye candy to me but that may be changing.
Check out this new system from Audi which they call their 3D Navigation System.
In the sense that it is fully rendered as you drive in a way that has much more reality than we've seen on navigation systems before.
Look at these buildings.
Now, assuming that was the city that you know.
Those have enough detail in them, enough surface rendering that you should be able to actually recognize them not kind of recognize them which to me is-- is distracting.
I want these or I want nothing when it comes to building rendering.
Here, I think I really could get an idea of where I am especially in a strange city I've not been to before.
I can look around and say, "Oh, there are those buildings.
I know where I am." Notice this off [unk] and check that out.
They've rendered it so precise that you can see little kinks in the turn.
So, you really can get an idea of are you in the exact same place that you think you're supposed to be.
It really just adds a lot more visual depth and accuracy that you can work with.
Now, let me show you another technology that they're working on that I often been on.
Head-up Display.
This Head-up Display mocked up here for display purposes, of course.
You wouldn't have this in your car.
It's an augmented reality technology.
Really laying things out
in the world out in the windshield not just right like some sort of a fixed projection.
Let's take a look.
Okay.
Okay, check this out.
At the bottom you see information like you've seen on a head-up display before.
That's not revolutionary.
But, look at those laying lines and look at that navigational aerial coming up.
This is augmented reality.
It's actually placed in three dimensions out in the road in front of you.
So, you get a sense of where are things were supposed to happen not just what they're supposed to happen.
You also get some
nice convenience for the focal length of your eyes.
Instead of always looking back and focusing on a plane two-feet in front of you, you're basically looking out at the road like you always would.
Less eye strain.
Less refocusing.
It makes driving safer and makes the information as you can see here, a lot more relevant.
It's integrated into the world you're looking at out of the windshield.
And finally, Audi is getting very close to putting in a full digital video instrument panel like you see here and this sort of thing allows your instrument panel like you can see the gauges were kind of moving
out of the way right now to make room for other information.
It allows the real estate to be flexible so that the thing can be contextually emphasize in what matters at that moment.
Now, some of these are farther in the future than others.
That fly over 3D building rendering is not far away they say and neither is the video instrument panel.
That augmented reality heads up.
That might be a few years down the road which you can see where things were going to finally get the inside of the car to catch up with a lot of consumer electronics we're already used to.
