It may be one of the most awesome ideas to hit a car in a long time, but BMW’s got a line of cars–specifically, the 7-series Sedan–with a whole slew of options, the most interesting of which is easily the night vision option.
Why is it so interesting, you ask? Well, it’s not REALLY night vision at all, not in the conventional sense. See, in standard night vision, specialized components collect and amplify ambient light, thus allowing one to see where there was entirely too little light to see by before. While the BMW night vision DOES get some augmentation from the headlights, its primary imaging source is a thermal camera, making this more of a heat-detection system rather than a night vision system.
I’m not saying that this isn’t useful–far from it! Living in an area that sees HUGE amounts of car-deer collisions every year, I’d love to be able to see those stupid things coming by something a little more reliable than my high beams. But it’d cost more to get the device than it would to replace my car…it’s part of an option package that can add upward of twenty six thousand bucks to the price of an already-salty BMW.
Tags: 7 series, BMW, car deer collision, heat detection, Night Vision, option package, thermal camera
