Did you hear about Tesla Motors and their electric vehicle? The pre-orders on their Tesla 3 reached high results just few days ago, arriving to the first pages of online and offline magazines and newspapers.

Surely this happened because of the features of the vehicle, that promise to help drivers saving money and (everyone hopes, at least) to release less smog thanks to the electricity system instead of the fuel one; Tesla project, anyhow, doesn’t end here: the prototype has also automatic driving and, following some leaks, soon will also feature a HUD.

Tha last news, in fact, are about a pretty original hiring: Tesla welcomed in their team as new Software Engineer  Milan Kovac, augmented reality expert coming from Skully, another brand part of the avant-garde technologies field (Skully is one of the augmented reality driving helmets presented at CES 2016). Kovac’s entrance in the Tesla team made everyone guess a possible development of an augmented reality HUD for their new car.

HUD displays are the last trends in the driving world: literally, HUD means heads-up display, a display letting the driver have all the information needed while driving right in front of his eyes, without being forced to take off the eyes from the street. During last year this kind of devices, using augmented reality features, saw an increase: from the information superimposed to the car’s front shield to those inside helmets (for motorbikes or even ski).

In the case of Tesla 3 there seem to be no doubts: the prototype presented to the public, in fact, did not show a traditional instrument panel, but an original one resembling a tablet. Will this be Tesla’s next step to the definitive model?
Reading a tweet that Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, published before the prototype presentation seems it could be, since it says: “Tomorrow is Part 1 of the Model 3 unveil. Part 2, which takes things to another level, will be closer to production.

Augmented reality helmets? F-35 fighter pilots are using them from some time now to have a look to the airplane performance without having to look down; now, thanks to the two devices presented at CES 2016 by BMW and Skully, this new technology entered also the two-wheeled world.

BMW isn’t new to experiments with augmented reality: we’ve already seen the results of their hi-tech tests when they released the smart glasses helping the driver fixing his vehicle and the famous MINI goggles, with that peculiar strange old-style look. At the Las Vegas event they wanted to surprise us again, this time making a step for taking motorcycling to the future: the company presented DigiLens, their new augmented reality helmet that helps bikers driving in a safer way. To explain easily this device, it’s enough to say they are a Google Glass for helmets, just with a wider view: DigiLens is a magnetic, colored display as thin as eyeglasses that can be clipped in front of the driver’s eye. Inside the helmet, in the biker’s field of view, DigiLens shows important information superimposed.

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This technology has the potential to enhance the riding experience by making it easier to see what is behind you, as well as keeping important information in the rider’s field of view,” says Robert Richter, senior advanced technology engineer at the BMW Group Technology Office USA.

Another device related to the world of motorcycling is the augmented reality helmet AR-1 by Skully. At the moment at the end of the crowdfunding campaign, with the device available on the official site for $1499, Skully took part to CES 2016 with a demonstration of the possibilities of AR-1. Skully is an helmet that uses augmented reality to show useful information and also what is recorded with a camera placed on its back directly in the field of view of the biker. Other than this feature, the smart helmet has also an internal audio function that let the driver listen to music and follow the directions given by the navigator.

Caschi a realtà aumentata? I piloti degli F-35 ne fanno uso già da tempo per tenere d’occhio le performance dell’aereo senza essere costretti a spostare lo sguardo dalla traiettoria di volo; adesso, grazie ai due dispositivi presentati da BMW e Skully al CES 2016, questa nuova tecnologia ha fatto il suo ingresso anche nel mondo a due ruote.

BMW non è certo nuova alle sperimentazioni con la realtà aumentata: abbiamo già visto i risultati dei suoi test tecnologici negli smart glasses che aiutano l’automobilista ad aggiustare il veicolo e nei famosissimi goggles, dal gusto un po’ retrò, abbinati alla MINI. All’evento di Las Vegas ha voluto stupirci ancora, portando il motociclismo nel futuro: la casa ha infatti presentato DigiLens, il suo nuovo casco a realtà aumentata che aiuta i motociclisti a guidare in modo più sicuro grazie all’omonima tecnologia. Per spiegare semplicemente questo dispositivo basta pensare a Google Glass montato su un casco per moto, ma con una vista decisamente più estesa: DigiLens è un display a colori dello spessore di una lente che può essere sistemato tramite un magnete di fronte all’occhio del guidatore. All’interno del casco, nel campo visivo del motociclista, DigiLens mostra diverse importanti informazioni in sovrimpressione.

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Questa tecnologia ha il potenziale di migliorare l’esperienza di guida rendendo più semplice da vedere quel che c’è dietro di te, e nel mentre mantenere informazioni importanti per il guidatore nel suo campo visivo” ha detto Robert Richter, ingegnere per il Group Technology Office USA.

Altro device relativo al mondo del motociclismo è il casco a realtà aumentata AR-1 firmato Skully. Al momento ancora in chiusura della campagna di crowdfunding, con il dispositivo reso disponibile sul sito ufficiale per 1.499 dollari, Skully ha partecipato al CES 2016 con una dimostrazione delle possibilità di AR-1. Skully è un casco che utilizza la realtà aumentata trasmettendo informazioni utili e quel che viene registrato dalla videocamera sul retro del casco direttamente all’interno del campo visivo del motociclista. Oltre a queste feature, il casco intelligente ha una funzione audio interna che permette al guidatore di ascoltare musica e di seguire le indicazioni del navigatore.