End of Road May Be Near for Side Mirrors

Side mirrors of cars can soon be a thing of the past. Engineers have been working on cars with two-inch “digital mirrors,” which are cameras that are on the exterior of the car. The image displayed on the camera would be shown on the dashboard. The cameras are also supposed to create a wider view and with the push of a button create a panoramic view by electronically stitching the pictures of the cameras to help eliminate blind spots. The cameras would be connected to parking and breaking systems since they would be able to detect how fast objects are moving around the car.

I believed the article did a good job in presenting the benefits. I think the idea behind this is great, when driving blind spots are always the biggest concern when moving at highway speeds. This sounds like they have really engineered the cameras to be synced to show a true image with the  panoramic feature. I believe that the greater views and the cameras connected to emergency braking and parking systems are better for older drivers and for beginners who are not used to the road or are slow to react. As the article mentioned, the cameras would create less drag, and by resisting drag you are using less power, meaning less gas wasted on accelerating the car, which for the driver is great. By taking away the eyesores of those side mirrors, cosmetically the car would look better.

This article did raise some concerns. There is the issue of if one of the cameras breaks or is damaged: How would the panoramic view be displayed or would the picture be thrown off by using just two of the three cameras? As much as the article said about the cost of replacing a mirror, replacing a camera as opposed to a mirror would likely cost much more. Also, unless taught how to drive using this new camera system, it will be a big adjustment for all drivers who are already on the road today. Focusing on one of the three display screens may be distracting and can cause accidents if one is not used to this new way of seeing what is behind and to the sides of the car (granted the panoramic feature can help this problem, but it is still an adjustment). There needs to be a grace period for drivers in these cars, but grace periods when it comes to driving would not be safe. The article did a good job on how Mercedes and on how BMW are making these cars but failed to mention how other non-luxury brands would be using this new technology, which is not helpful or interesting to owners of those other car brands. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/05/automobiles/end-of-the-road-may-be-near-for-side-mirrors.html?ref=technology&_r=0