This could possibly be one of the weirdest patents from an automaker we have ever seen. Sure, even weirder than the patent from Ford describing a way to drive an automotive by thought management. Feast your eyes on Normal Motors’ Autostereoscopic Campfire Show for autos.

In plain English, GM has a thought for a system that, amongst different issues, can show a hologram of a campfire for passengers in an automobile. However, that is not truly the bizarre half. The strangest factor is how GM needs to do it: The patent makes use of an advanced projection system to beam pictures immediately to your eyeballs.

How does it work, precisely? There are 16 pages in GM’s patent utility describing the method; seven of those are diagrams full of extra straight and dotted traces than the New Jersey Turnpike. They present how a passenger monitoring system, spatial gentle modulator, image generator unit, beam steering system, and every kind of PC processor work collectively to project pictures into the eyes of passengers.

The passenger monitoring system retains a monitor of the individuals, particularly the place their eyes are positioned. This permits the beam steering system to project pictures created by the spatial gentle modulator onto the eyes. The system can monitor a number of passengers and send particular person pictures to every individual. In truth, the system initiatives completely different pictures to every eye, thus making a 3D impact. Keep in mind these colourful, geometric pictures that might reveal a hidden 3D message in the event you crossed your eyes excellent? It is type of like that.

No less than, we predict it is like that. The patent mentions quite a few situations projecting pictures that are practically identical, precisely identical, or fairly a bit completely different. It additionally covers other ways to trace individuals and mission pictures; however, all of them contain taking pictures of one thing at your eyeballs at a frequency higher than 30 Hz. Apparently, that is the frequency at which the human eye will not understand any flickering and mix every two-dimensional picture right into a single 3D imaginative and prescient.

As for the campfire connection, frankly, that is a thriller. We do not see any point out of it past the patent’s title. Maybe that is the most effective instance of how this technique takes a two-dimensional picture and makes it 3D; however, it actually leaves us with more questions than solutions. That is billed as a leisure function; however, may future navigation programs beam instructions straight to your eyes? Possibly passengers may watch motion pictures with no chance of the driving force taking a peek?

That mentioned, do not count on to see this anytime quickly, if ever. The patent references such a system being utilized in vehicles with superior Stage 4 and Stage 5 autonomous capabilities.