Futuristic windshield aims to help older drivers

General Motors Corp. researchers are working on a windshield that combines lasers, infrared sensors and a camera to take what's happening on the road and enhance it, so aging drivers with vision problems are able to see a little more clearly.

GM's new windshield won't improve their vision, but it will make objects stand out that could otherwise go unnoticed by an aged eye.

At the same time, the developers say the technology won't cause drivers to plow into trees. It is enhancing just a few objects that are already in a driver's view, not splashing distracting information onto the glass.

For example, during a foggy drive, a laser projects a blue line onto the windshield that follows the edge of the road. Or if infrared sensors detect a person or animal in the driver's path during a night drive, its outline is projected on the windshield to highlight its location.

It's possible because of a transparent coating on the windshield that lights up when struck by ultraviolet light.

Source: edition.cnn.comAdded: 8 August 2008