Here’s a classic concept car design cue that’s now available in an everyday sedan. Lexus will start offering Digital Outer Mirrors, and the first car to get it will be the new ES saloon. It will be the first mass-produced vehicle to get cameras and screens as wing mirrors – Volkswagen only made 250 units of the XL1 fuel economy special, and the Audi e-tron isn’t out yet.
Essentially, the side mirrors are cameras, and the live feed is displayed on left and right screens inside the cabin. This allows for enhanced views of the area around the car at night and in inclement weather, Lexus says. It’s not just plain feed too – the Digital Outer Mirrors offer an expanded view of the car’s surroundings by augmenting the display area during turns or when reversing.
The system automatically enhances the corresponding area – left, right or behind – when the turn signals are activated, or when the transmission is put into reverse. The views on the five-inch monitors located at the base of the A pillars can be manually enhanced by the driver. Digital Outer Mirrors is an extension of the full display mirror (FDM) digital rear view mirror that Lexus and Toyota already offer.
Of course, this system also allows for slim and futuristic looking “side mirrors” that provide better forward visibility and the reduction of wind noise, due to their smaller surface area. Another advantage is that Digital Outer Mirrors are shaped to resist the accumulation of raindrops and snow. Close up images of the cameras and its housing is in the gallery below.
The Digital Outer Mirror will make its debut on the new Lexus ES in Japan, where it will go on sale in late October.
GALLERY: Lexus ES 300h
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When it’s not broken don’t fix it
Camera replaced faulty power wing mirrors.
Isn’t this too much?
This is enhanching on top of what already there..
Yup. It’s like a solution looking for a problem…
Cannot imagine how many times you have to replace it driving in busy city like KL, Hanoi etc where there are many biker.Oh don’t forget Indian city too !
better TnG RFID sticker there than headlights.
Their target market is first world country….hope you get their point.
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Once broken, few $thousand$ out to replace 1. If accidently hit by other car or by biker on tight jam road, habis la. Should make it 2 in 1, side mirror stay but with cam attached in the side mirror.
Credits to Lexus. Camera recognition used to scan car plate RFID to collect road toll.
why cant just put a CCTV to replace the side mirror? smaller & better aerodynamic. also can rotate to avoid blind spot.
Stick a flexible transparent oled screen on the window or on top of the window front corner (like those retractable shades) to display the side view (where you usually look at the side mirror). That looks more elegant… what Lexus supposed to be? No?
This shows humans are getting dumber by having so much unnecessary technology
It still big just to house the camera, i think it can be smaller.
Motor langbar, wallet habis.
It’s a smart idea. But where they put it, makes it look like an afterthought. Think it should be better integrated with the dash/interior. Agreed that the feed is shown inside the car rather than outside like normal mirrors. For obvious reason cos it won’t get dirty and less susceptible from being damaged.
Stupid design…it doesn’t serve the purpose if it still need the extended wings
[Quote] when the turn signals are activated [/quote]
Seeing as how many drivers use the turn signals… guess it’ll be an over glorified screen for most of the time!
Most MY pipu will rewire it to show music & cat videos so the driver & front passenger can watch entertainment wile on the move.
They would have the camera integrated with the truck door soon.?
they should integrate the camera with normal side mirror..like blind sport monitoring system.
its good…can see blindspot better than mirror
My goodness, the designer is a whale lover
Suitable for advanced countries like the Scandinavian states.