In late February, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Executives made a stunning announcement today: Project Titan, its Decadelong Vehicle Project is Dead. Of course the patents that were being processed continue to surface at the U.S. and European patent offices.

Whether Apple will sell their vehicle related patents or simply put their Project Titan on hold until the U.S. government commits to smart roads and recharging stations nationwide and the industry builds longer lasting batteries. So going forward we'll continue to post reports on interesting Project Titan patents when they surface.  

This week, a patent application from Apple was published in Europe by WIPO that relates to a camera system for vehicles. It wouldn't be surprising to see this type of invention surface in future EV vehicles.   

In Apple's patent background they note that vehicles may include windows such as a front windshield and may also include mirrors such as side view mirrors and a rear view mirror. Mirrors such as these may be used to check for cars or other objects in the vicinity of the vehicle. In a conventional vehicle, mirrors are located separately from the front windshield, so a driver or other passenger in the vehicle must look away from the front windshield to check the mirrors before changing lanes, breaking, or taking other actions. If care is not taken, the risk of collisions may be increased when the user is looking away from the front windshield in order to check the mirrors. Apple's patent is to remedy this.

Displays with Exterior Views

Apple's patent covers one or more displays that may be integrated into the vehicle windows such as the front windshield. The display may be a head-up display, a surface-laminated display, an embedded display, and/or any other suitable type of display.

The display in the front windshield may be configured to display images captured by a camera in the vehicle. For example, a left camera may be mounted to a left side of the body and may be configured to capture a left side view (sometimes referred to as a left side mirror view). The left camera may be co-located with a left side view mirror or may replace a left side view mirror. A right camera may be mounted to a right side of the body and may be configured to capture a right side view (sometimes referred to as a right side mirror view). The right camera may be co-located with a right side view mirror or may replace a right side view mirror.

The one or more displays in the front windshield may be configured to display a live video feed of the left side view captured by the left camera and the right side view captured by the right camera. Control circuitry (e.g., a controller, microprocessor, etc.) in the vehicle may automatically display the live video feed of the left side view when a left turn signal is activated and may automatically display the live video feed of the right side view when a right turn signal is activated. The left and right side views may be displayed on separate respective displays on the front windshield or may be displayed by a single common display on the front windshield.

The display on the front windshield may allow the user to check for cars, people, or other obstructions around the vehicle (e.g., before changing lanes or taking other actions) without having to entertain the user's gaze away from the front windshield.

Additional cameras may be mounted to the vehicle body such as a rear view camera, a birds-eye view camera, a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree camera, etc. The display on the front windshield may display live video feeds from the different cameras at the same time or at different times depending on turn signal information, speedometer information, user input, proximity sensor information or other sensor information, etc.

Apple's FIG. 3 below is a top view of an illustrative vehicle with one or more cameras that capture mirror views and one or more windows with integrated displays for displaying the mirror views.

For full details, review patent application WO2024155407.