Crave TV: PathFindIR car system lets you see in the dark

Ever wanted to see in the dark? Now you can, thanks to the FLIR PathFindIR. Designed for use in cars, the system consists of a heat-sensitive camera and a display that shows you what's happening on the road ahead -- even if your rubbish human eyes can't see a thing.

Slap it on your dashboard and heat signatures from people, animals or inanimate objects on the road ahead are displayed on the accompanying screen. Warm objects appear as white and colder objects appear black. It's really handy, because even with xenon headlamps, streetlights and cats eyes, there's still a real danger of running over stray animals or jaywalkers.

Whereas standard car headlamps have a range of 100m on low beam or 160m on high beam, the PathFindIR has a range of over 600m, so it gives you plenty of notice of what's going on ahead.

According to FLIR, the PathFindIR system will be an optional extra in new BMW 7-, 6- and 5-series cars. But if you ask nicely, they may supply you with a version for your existing vehicle. Check out the FLIR Web site for more details, and watch our cool video to see the system in action. -Rory Reid

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• Tags:
• camera,
• cars,
• dashboard,
• human