New headlights that turn rain invisible: Could these save lives on the roads?

Intel engineers have developed intelligent headlights that can 'see through' rain.

Intel engineers say the system would eliminate up to 80 per cent of visible rain during a heavy storm

Engineers at Intel have just created car headlights that make rain 'invisible' for drivers. Having recently become increasingly involved in the development of automotive technologies - Intel have programmed the headlights to detect water droplets and 'dis-illuminate' them as they fall.

Illuminated rain or snow causes distracting flickers - so engineers investigated whether light rays could somehow avoid illuminating the raindrops or snowflakes.

Engineers at @IntelUK have just created car headlights that make rain 'invisible' for drivers. #intelfuture

The 'See Through Rain' technology works like a projector rather than a traditional single bulb headlight found in today's cars. This projector then 'blots out' the bits of its projection where the raindrops are - and the result is a beam of light that shines out from the front of a car in the dark, avoiding the rain - and therefore not highlighting it.

How does it work?

It uses a camera to track the motion of raindrops and snowflakes and then computer software is used to predict where those particles will fall a few milliseconds later.
The light projection system then deactivates the light beams that would otherwise illuminate the raindrops and cause a glare for the driver.
At low speeds, their system could eliminate 70 to 80 per cent of visible rain during a heavy storm, while losing only 5 or 6 per cent of the light from the headlamp.

This kind of headlight would mean that the driver is less distracted and can focus on the road. Intel engineers say the system would eliminate up to 80 per cent of visible rain during a heavy storm.

According to John Tomkins, an engineer at technology firm Intel, "In the worst thunder storm, a motorist in a car travelling at around 20mph would notice a 80% improvement" - he continued to say that
"I would hope this could save lives on the roads"

Intel see through rain headlights

For now, the only way you can see this rain-cancelling technology is in a demonstration as part of the Intel UK video report (below), but Intel thinks that it could make its way into production within the next 10 years.

Current headlight technology extends to the use of Xenon lights and LED lights]. Xenon headlights have a longer lifetime, use less power, and offer better visibility than traditional headlights. Similarly, LED headlights are of a small size, and can also greatly complement the cars design whilst also having very low enegry consuption.