The path to cars with no mirrors

Starting with May 1, 2018, all US car makers will be obliged to fit their vehicles with rear-view cameras.

Once this hop will have passed, it won’t be long until cameras are going to replace the old three-mirrors system we all know so well but which, with nowadays high-tech car gadgets, is becoming obsolete.

Car makers have been developing camera-based technologies for some time now and, if it weren’t for mandatory safety regulations, they would have replaced mirrors with cameras by now.

The three-mirrors systems is certainly not without faults. For example, it makes the car less aerodynamic by as much as 3 to 6% while it increases fuel consumption due to the same air-flow restriction. Side mirrors also cause the noise in the cockpit to increase at high speeds, possibly making the drive less pleasant for all passengers.

Moreover, the mirrors are required to cover the over-the-shoulder blind spot but many drivers are unaware of how to set up their mirrors correctly. Constantly adjusting the mirrors can be both time-consuming and patience-testing.

On the other hand, with cameras instead of mirrors all of these issues will become history. In addition, cameras can cover wider angles with improved accuracy than mirrors can.

Tesla, electric-car innovator, had supposedly already petitioned regulators to allow side cameras instead of side wing mirrors.

Nissan and Land Rover are fitting their vehicles with cameras that can cover every possible angle and offer improved visibility and awareness to the driver.

Honda’s LaneWatch system not only creates a bird’s eye view of the car by collecting information from multiple cameras fitted all around the car, but it also traces guidelines on a screen that can help the driver make a more precise estimation of a distance than by looking into a mirror.

Nissan’s Smart Mirror is both a mirror and a display for a rear camera. It processes the image and exposure, enhancing the image quality in low-light situations or diminishing the glare of bright light sources.

Car camera systems still have, nonetheless, problems of their own, mostly regarding placement, dashboard display location and high costs.

Until the day car-makers will come up with the most optimal solution to ditch the old system for a new high-tech one, car cameras and the three-mirrors system will have to function together.