Nissan 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

While Nissan may not have been the first OEM to offer it, but its “Around View Monitor” (AVM) technology is (1) impressive and (2) widely available throughout the company’s lineup, not just something that’s kept for top-of-the-line models.

Essentially, AVM provides an image on the center console screen that shows the vehicle from directly above. The vehicle is a rendered image, but the surroundings are real, as there are four super-wide angle (180-degree), high-resolution cameras (located in the front, rear and on the side view mirrors). The output of those cameras is stitched together so the driver, such as when parking the car, can see what’s around the vehicle, including the lines on the asphalt in parking lots.

This technology is evidentially robust. At least that is an assessment than can be made predicated on the fact that Nissan is providing its AVM technology to the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and Topy Industries, a manufacturer of robot crawling devices.

Under development are robotic, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). They are being made to search underwater for natural resources.

The ROVs will be equipped with AVM so they can avoid obstacles as they are directed by “drivers” far above them, on the surface of the seas in ships.

Think of it as nearly autonomous (robotic vehicle) driving.