Night Vision Aid

I propose a night vision aid for older drivers. No, this would not be a passive infrared image conversion system, nor Heads Up Display as in a GM Cadillac. It would just provide some visual enhancement.

The system would consist of a pair of special glasses. One lens would be clear glass. The other lens would provide a semi-transparent lens reflecting off a miniature electronic display. A miniature camera tuned to near infrared ( like a Sony camcorder) would be mounted on the outside of the glasses frame. An electronic zoom adjustment would be incorporated to match the views of the aided and unaided eye. A strong, wide beam, near infrared lamp, mounted on the car would illuminate the road ahead. Since its wavelength would be mostly below visible light, it would not seem very bright to oncoming cars. Built-in software would provide a number of options (i.e. image edge detection), and using the brain’s remarkable ability to combine images from the left and right eye (Monovision), a complete enhanced, yet real world view of the road ahead would be provided to the driver.