Here's an idea for you

mike_c Who wants to read in VR anyway?
mircea_popescu Me. For instance, I'd like a measurement overlay.
asciilifeform Me. But not 100M wankers. Not yet.

mike_c Well, overlays would be more of a see-through augmentation thing, not a closed off VR experience, no?
decimation I think a competent driver with a good measurement overlay coupled with a radar/laser rangefinder would be more safe in a variety of conditions. Especially if FLIR were available.
mircea_popescu Absolutely. Good laser you can drive in fog.

decimation That's clearly an application for high resolution optic viewers. Ideally you have car-mounted sensors without any blockage from the columns in the vehicle
mircea_popescu Obviously, lasers in the lights. Actually... you don't really need oculars for this. You could make a decent windshield. This I think is a start-up idea right here, sell windshield + sensor kids for the aftermarket. People would be all over your shit. 100mn of them too, because nothing gets a guy off quite like having the girl that's about to give him a blowjob think he's Batman.

pankkake I want sensor kids!
kanzure Sensor kids...
mircea_popescu Kits omg.

decimation I think the angle here is that the "my startup life"ⁱ folks in California want to jump directly to full automation. Why not mine the more easily achievable sensor augmentation market?
mircea_popescu What do they know. Someone get elon musk in here lol.
Musk mircea_popescu, he's busy with exploding Teslas.

decimation Maybe we can wrap everyone in a titanium shell so they don't experience hardship in life.
mircea_popescu Musk well, imagine how cool it'd be if the windshield'd show the explosion parameters in Futura typeface just as you're flying through teh clouds.

So there you go, that's your idea : pick a popular, high end model (preferably, but not necessarily, one where the manufacturer is friendlyⁱⁱ) and sell after market kits consisting of replacement windshield + replacement headlights + some sort of console integration (that part may be readily dispensed with, if need be, you could just use voice activation and control, or iPad integration or a myriad other alternatives). The headlights work exactly like original headlights but they also contain a configuration of rangefinding lasers (perhaps for the top range product, also radar + sonar + flir in some combination - note that you don't actually need to use audible sonar ranges for instance). The windshield is a transparent LCD like Samsung makes, or if not a polarised-reflective surface which reflects correctly polarised light projected from somewhere on the dash. Or if not something similar.

Once installed and activated, your system creates a little map of the road, including the distances and speeds of all objects a distance ahead.

Think of the benefits for the driver :

• Can drive at night, through fog, without major impediment. Check.
• Can see any obstacles on the road, whether stopped or moving, whether they have lights or not.
• Can see through some walls, most corners etc.

Easier to do pretty much anything you need to be doing as a driver, much safer, very win.

So... go do it ?

1. You know, like My Little Pony - Caked Old Cum Is A Lovelife meets Livin' It Large With Da Kardashians. [↩]
2. Which is measured by the criteria that they'll seed you and no other. [↩]