A top-secret project points to a potential Apple electric vehicle that could be launched between 2023 and 2025, according to a respected Apple analyst quoted in MacRumors.
Working in a hidden lab named SG5 in Sunnyvale, California, engineers are hard at work completing Project Titan. Since September 2014, the mega tech company has been working on a car manufacturing, design, and self-driving project. It is not yet clear if Apple is designing an entire vehicle like Apple Car, or just systems for a car.
Over the years, there have been many rumors surrounding a potential Apple Car and patent filings revealing new elements. Apple Insider points to features including driver disengagement reporting, an anti-glare windshield system, a specialized airbag system, a skid detection system, smart seatbelts that could control CarPlay devices, collision avoidance of arbitrary polygonal obstacles, and an inter-car communications system.
Recently, applications published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed new concepts based on passenger safety and in-car virtual reality (VR) systems.
According to a new application labeled Dynamic Element Protection, the self-driving vehicle will include a protection system that mitigates hazards to the passengers by using some form of intelligent assistance and vehicle sensor data. The car will determine if there is a trajectory nearby and restrict the operation of the vehicle doors so that the passengers will stay inside until the element passes. This includes any objects that are not in the passenger’s field of vision.
The vehicle can detect at least partial submergence and implement the protection module. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)
The car can also prevent the doors from opening if the vehicle is sinking in water using a system that manages whether a door or window will stay open or shut until it can be operated safely. It will also unlock safety restraints, deploy floatation devices, and generate a distress signal.
Using an ultra-wideband radar device and a protection module, the vehicle can also detect life signs if there is a passenger or pet in the car, including a breathing pattern and heartbeats through micro-Doppler analysis or sensor data generated by the device. The sensor data may include a microphone, a pressure sensor installed in a seat, a motion detection sensor, a camera device, a carbon dioxide density detector, an infrared thermometer, a laser thermometer, or some combination of sensors. It can determine the health state of the vehicle occupant in cases of emergency, turn on the air-conditioning, automatically lock doors, or notify the driver directly if the occupant is in a critical state.
In another patent, augmented reality display system, Apple suggests building an augmented reality (AR) display that is created on one or more transparent surfaces, such as the windshield. The system would be able to show speed notifications, unseen road hazards, GPS routes, and road signs that are in a different language.
A VR system provides synchronized physical effects for passengers, according to some embodiments. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)
The tech giant suggests creating a VR system complete with a headset to help passengers with motion sickness. According to the patent, Immersive Virtual Display, the VR system will provide virtual views that match visual cues with the physical motions that passengers experience, such as replacing the view of the real world with virtual environments. The VR system will be reactive with the other vehicle systems to provide physical effects with the virtual experiences without causing motion sickness.
The potential Apple electric vehicle could be launched between 2023 and 2025, but there are continuing signs that the project is still under development.