Transparent bonnet?

[Shdwdrgn]

Anyone else seen this? http://www.landrover.in/experiences/news/the-transparent-bonnet.html

Cameras located in the vehicle's grille capture data used to feed a Head-Up Display, effectively creating a 'see-through' view of the terrain through the bonnet and engine bay, breaking new ground in visual driver assistance.

There's a film on their website showing the device in action, and a short animated-GIF here: http://i.imgur.com/izwI6Fl.gifv (not sure how long the gif will be available).

Basically the device gives you a view through the engine compartment when you are driving through rough terrain. I can see this being really handy for navigating off-road.

[Anthony Hernandez]

Yea I saw that a little over a year ago.. Pretty sick, I imagine the price of the vehicle is so steep I wouldn't even want to offroad it at all.. Although I am seriously considering buying a defender...

[Trail X]

It benefits some trucks more than others. Luckily we are on the side where the benefit would be minimal due to our downward sloping hood. We've been blessed already with incredible visibility when off road.

[Shdwdrgn]

Maybe for going down the highway, but the last time I was on a decent trail, I couldn't see anything on the sharp uphill slopes. Since I didn't have a passenger at the time, I had to just scope out the path and feel my way along.

Since this article is apparently older than I realized, I wonder if anyone has built an opensource version yet? I'm thinking a raspberry pi with a cheap webcam, the only hard part is a small projector to sit on the dash and project the image up on the windshield.

[Anthony Hernandez]

Some backup cameras and a tablet might work.

[Shdwdrgn]

True, you can even use the reflection of a tablet off the windshield when it's not too bright out.

I've been digging around, there are some mini-projectors available, but they're all pretty high-dollar items, and most seem to require placing a special film on your windshield to act as the screen.