Nissan has already shown it’s not afraid to use this year’s hottest tech products to promote its new cars, after its performance arm Nismo revealed a concept smartwatch during the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The watch isn’t going to be Nissan’s only foray into wearable tech either, as it will launch a Google Glass-style heads-up display at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month.
In anticipation, Nissan has put up a dedicated website for the device, which is called the Nissan 3E. Don’t let the rather dull name fool you though, as it ignores Google’s subtle design and instead goes for all out cyborg cool. While Glass has a bridge over your nose so it stays on your face, Nissan’s 3E goes the other way, using a sports headphone-like support round the back of your head.
Extending out over left eye is a chunky half-visor, which looks like it fell of the F-117 stealth fighterIn, complete with a small glass viewer. Exactly what it will display isn’t stated, but if the smartwatch is anything to go by, it’ll connect to a car using Bluetooth LE, then show much of the information usually found on the vehicles center display. This could include speed, fuel consumption, GPS directions, and possibly social media and phone notifications too. Nissan’s smartwatch is also expected to measure the driver’s vital signs, but this won’t be quite as easy to do with the 3E.
So, is this going to be road legal? It’s a good question. Some traffic cops don’t think such devices should be worn while driving, as one Glass wearer in California found out recently, and the 3E looks like it’ll do a good job of obscuring some of the driver’s peripheral vision. We wonder, then, if this will be for track use. The sculpted support would be firmly held in place under a helmet, and the inclusion of a video camera will mean budding racers can record their best laps or a classic overtake for posterity.
We’ll find out more about the Nissan 3E at the Tokyo Motor Show, which begins on November 23 in, um, Tokyo, Japan.