Box Autos

Nissan’s revolutionary Around View Monitor gives small car drivers unrivalled 360-degree vision.

• Nissan’s Around View Monitor system, combined with Nissan Safety Shield, enhances driver’s field of vision
• Around View Monitor provides a bird’s-eye view of the car with a virtual 360-degree scene
• New Nissan Note brings unrivalled vision-enhancing technology to the small car segment

The average human has a field of vision of around 120-degrees, but drivers of the new Nissan Note will be able to see a full 360-degrees thanks to Nissan’s advanced engineering and sophisticated technologies.

The new model, unveiled at last month’s Geneva Motor Show, is the first Nissan to feature its advanced Safety Shield – a package of technologies that delivers a new level of driver assistance in the small car segment – along with the advanced Around View Monitor.

With the all-new Nissan Note drivers can find out what it would be like to have eyes in the back of their head. Nissan’s revolutionary Safety Shield, combined with Around View Monitor, gives owners unrivalled vision to help minimise the risk of accidents and to make manoeuvres easier and safer.

Safety Shield incorporates Nissan’s Blind Spot Warning system, Lane Departure Warning and Moving Object Detection through its innovative convex-lens camera located, unconventionally, at the rear of the car. The camera provides drivers with over 180-degrees visibility from a point just
below the rear windscreen – effectively giving them eyes in the back of their heads and allowingthem to see objects out of their normal field of view. The system also alerts drivers to potentialdangers, such as a child walking towards their reversing Note or other vehicles hidden in blind spots.

Making use of a further three cameras – one on the front grille and one on each door mirror – the Note also features Nissan’s acclaimed helicopter view parking aid, Around View Monitor, giving drivers a birds-eye view of their car. The 5.8-inch dashboard mounted screen displays a full, virtual 360-degree view, making manoeuvres significantly easier and safer. The Nissan Note is the first car in its segment to offer this sophisticated yet easy-to-use system, setting new standards for affordability.

Geraldine Ingham, Chief Marketing Manager for small cars for Nissan in Europe said: “From talking to drivers through our research groups, we found that being able to see what’s happening around them is a key factor in making them feel safer and more confident when driving and manoeuvring. With this in mind, we wanted to develop a technology that gave Nissan drivers a better view of the road. Safety Shield and Around View Monitor have been engineered to enhance drivers’ vision and let them see more of their surroundings, helping to keep them safer and minimise accidental bumps and scrapes.”

Production of the new Nissan Note will start in the summer, with first deliveries scheduled for autumn 2013 depending on specific markets.

The Nissan Safety Shield pack comprises the following three technologies:

• Blind Spot Warning

A feature once reserved for cars in the premium sector, Nissan’s system uses the rear wide view AVM camera to detect vehicles in the hidden blind spot areas on both sides of the Note. If a vehicle is detected in either blind spot, a discreet warning light illuminates in the glass of the Note’s wing mirror. If the driver indicates to change lanes and the system detects a vehicle in the danger area, the light flashes and an audible warning is given.

• Lane Departure Warning

Another premium feature making its debut in the B-segment, Lane Departure Warning detects if the car is starting to drift out of lane. While you might expect a windscreen mounted camera or radar system to be required for this function, the Note again uses only its rear wide view AVM camera. Advanced computer programming detects even faint road markings allowing the car to determine if it is drifting out of position without indicating.  If it does, a warning is given to the driver to correct their road position. Cleverly, the system automatically adjusts its sensitivity when on rural roads to allow for the different required driving style.

• Moving Object Detection

Building on the capabilities of Around View Monitor, this new function effectively gives the driver a digital co-pilot to help them look at what might be approaching the path of their reversing Note. While conventional parking aids warn the driver of an object in their way, Moving Object Detection gives an audible and visual alert if someone or something is moving behind the car, for example if a child is walking towards your reversing Note. Mounted on the tailgate and having a convex lens, the rear wide view AVM camera has a sweep of vision in excess of 180 degrees, giving it an unparalleled field of vision at the back of the car. The rear camera has even been engineered to self-clean by firing a small jet of water over the lens and drying it using a small jet of compressed air to ensure it always provides a clear image. The images from the camera are displayed on the 5.8-inch Nissan Connect screen.