How to Make Your Caravan Invisible

If you have ever gone on a caravan holiday, then you know very well how tiring it can be to maneuver the caravan and control it with the towing vehicle. This isn’t one of those rides where you have to handle a different vehicle altogether. You need to control the towing vehicle as well as the caravan. Now the problem with towing it is that the rear view is blocked by the caravan. This can make it a bit difficult to check out the rear view properly.

Land Rover has developed an innovative “see through” technology that makes a trailer or caravan ‘disappear’ in the rear-view mirror. This gives the feeling that the caravan has become invisible. No one has come up with spells or an invisibility cloak that can manage this trick. Plus, this is as real as it gets. So don’t mistake it for a hoax. The research’s findings has been demonstrated at the Burghley Horse Trials in the UK where a Range Rover prototype was used for the test.

Check out the video of the see-through technology below.

The system has been designed to work in a way such that the blind spot is removed while towing the caravan. This not only makes it safer to overtake other vehicles, but also helps in controlling the parking as well as reversing maneuvers. The concept behind this technology is simple yet effective. The video feed from the vehicle’s existing surround camera system is mixed with the video from a digital wireless camera that is placed at the rear end of the caravan. Once the video feed is mixed to create a live video, the caravan gets a see-through appearance. The beauty of this technology is that the live video is made to appear on the rear view mirror, thereby creating an almost realistic experience for the driver.

Wolfgang Epple, director of research and technology at Land Rover, said, “When you are overtaking it is instinctive to check your mirrors, but if you are towing your vision is often restricted with large blind spots. Our Transparent Trailer project is researching how we could offer a view out of the vehicle unrestricted by your trailer, no matter what its size or shape. Our prototype system offers a very high quality video image with no distortion of other cars or obstructions.”

This new technology will definitely help to reduce the number of accidents that occur while overtaking and even drivers with relatively less experience in maneuvering caravans would be able to manage the movements with ease. As of now, the technology has been tried with a prototype. However, a full-fledged commercial application will reveal the true capabilities for this innovative technology. Also, it would be interesting to see how the system works in a real caravan setting where accessories such as caravan awnings are installed along with other components.