Jaguar Land Rover uses smart capsules as "virtual eyes"

Jaguar Land Rover is pursuing the use of smart capsules simulating virtual eyes to apply them to autonomous car technology and improve it.

Jaguar Land Rover is really taking the progress and research in autonomous car technology seriously, and it is no wonder, after all, this technology will become one of the most important of the century once it is perfected.

In this case, Jaguar Land Rover has used smart capsules integrated with virtual eyes to study the effect that autonomous vehicles have on human beings. This experiment is motivated by studies that claim 63% of pedestrians worry about how safe it will be to cross a street in the future with the use of this technology.

These capsules with “eyes” of a friendly appearance perform a fundamental job: collecting information to improve the effectiveness of pedestrian detection and thus increase trust in them when using this technology in the future.

Jaguar Land Rover has hired a team of psychologists to better understand how the behavior of autonomous vehicles affects the way humans act and their trust. This experiment is part of the UK government’s initiative in its “Autodrive Project“.

The smart capsules move on their own in a manufactured scenario that simulates a city street in Coventry. Meanwhile, the behavior of pedestrians during the experiment is analyzed as they cross the street. The “virtual eyes” were designed by a team of experienced engineers, who work at Jaguar Land Rover, specifically in its “Future Mobility” division.

The capsules are responsible for detecting the pedestrian, looking at them directly and carrying out the most logical preventive actions for each situation.

Safety remains the number one priority at Jaguar Land Rover, hence the large investment made to improve its systems and the attempt to become leaders in autonomous, electric and connected technology. The ultimate goal is to make cars safer, optimize people’s precious time and improve mobility for everyone.