Future Range Rovers could tell the city about local potholes
Jaguar Land Rover has revealed that it's working on technology that'll alert the authorities whenever your car finds a bump in the road. It's one of several high-tech initiatives the outfit has been working on, including heads-up displays in the windshield and "transparent" cars. Once an issue, like a pothole or broken drain, has been discovered, its location will be uploaded to the authorities who can then send a maintenance crew to come fix it. In the meantime, the information can be shared with nearby vehicles so that motorists in the vicinity can avoid damaging their car.
The company has been testing this system out with a specially modified Range Rover Evoque. It's hoped that, with the addition of a forward-facing camera, the ride will even be able to spot potholes in the road ahead. That way, the fancy SUV can adjust its suspension settings to ensure that well-heeled passengers won't feel a bump. Of course, this crowdsourced data will also be useful in making self-driving cars aware of future problems so that they can steer around them. Right now, of course, this is just a fancy tech demo allied with some lofty promises, but maybe in a few decades time we'll see this tech in real Range Rovers -- if so, we'd better start saving up right now.
