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Headlight tech cleans rain from your view

The researchers claim a production version could be ready within a decade.

Apparently so, claim researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and tech giant Intel, who are currently testing the technology.

According to a report from CNET, first picked up by Autoblog, the technology uses a special headlight that acts more like a projector than as a pure lighting device.

A camera integrated with the projector-headlight monitors the road ahead, relaying images to a processor that can detect rain drops and remove them from a digital image that is then projected ahead.

The genius of the system is the processor’s ability to anticipate the path of each rain droplet, which speeds up the whole process to a time interval of just 13 milliseconds. The end result is a view of the road that is much clearer and with far fewer bright spots.

The researchers claim this will reduce driver stress and make roads safer during rain and even snow storms.

Apart from the cost and potential weight of installing a powerful projector in each of the car’s headlights, our only concern would be drivers not anticipating how poor conditions are outside their car due to the clear view being projected in front of them.

The researchers claim a production version could be ready within a decade.

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