MINI Augmented Vision

While Google glass has gone back to the drawing board and car companies look for more and better ways to make cars that have auto-driving properties, MINI is doing something a little different. Or perhaps, very different.

MINI has teamed up with Qualcomm, a company that works in 3G and next-gen mobile technologies. Together, the pair has developed what they are calling augmented reality glasses. What do these glasses do? Well, you can’t see through buildings like Superman, but you do have some more fun while driving your MINI.

The lenses are essentially HD displays that use WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS power in order to overlay various bits of virtual information over the road as you drive. According to Pat McKenna, manager of product planning at MINI USA, they’re looking to use this technology to benefit people who love tech, love to drive, and it would also “keep our drivers focused on the road.”

Indeed, they would take the need for the center console (where most cars keep their GPS and other information located) out of the picture by providing useful heads-up displays about real-time street sign information as well as vehicle speed. But when they’re on full power, they do give a kind of X-ray vision due to syncing up with outboard cameras mounted on the car. Heads-up displays are already on some cars, but they’re located on the front windshield – perhaps just a foot above where they’re typically located behind the steering wheel. With the glasses, the information is with you no matter where you turn your head.

Keep these glasses in mind when you go looking for a new and used MINI Cooper dealership in West Palm Beach, Florida. They’re not available just yet, but you can always keep an eye out for them and talk to the experts at Braman MINI about future possibilities.