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​Expand Your Vision at Night with Infrared Car Cameras

​Expand Your Vision at Night with Infrared Car Cameras

Posted by Speedir on 9th Apr 2020

Updated March 2023

Many people must drive at night, whether it’s going to or from work, or grabbing a midnight snack from the store. Almost every single driver in the world ends up driving at night at some point in their lives. However, driving at night means an increased risk of vehicle accidents due to poor visibility.

What are the Dangers of Driving at Night?

According to informationon the National Safety Council website, the most dangerous time to drive is at night. When it becomes dark outside, “depth perception, color recognition and peripheral vision can be compromised”. During this time, your eyes are even more sensitive to rapid changes in light levels, so when a pair of bright headlights is coming at you it could potentially blind you for a couple of moments.

Regular headlights have a visibility of up to 250 feet (source). Although they help, they are not the most effective way to drive safely at night. When an animal or person is walking across the road, 250 feet is not enough time to slow down a car going 55 mph on a highway. Nighttime is a terrifying time to drive, but modern technology is working to change that with the development of infrared thermal car cameras.

thermal deer imagePeace of Mind with Infrared Car Cameras

Thanks to the new animal-detection systems available, like infrared (IR) car cameras, it is possible to drive at night with the benefit of a peace of mind.

Deer accidents can happen at any time, almost anywhere. Hitting an average-size deer can potentially total your car. At best an accident like this could cost the car owner hundreds or thousands in damages and could even cause major injury. At worst it could result in death when a driver unexpectedly drives up on a deer in the middle of the road and swerves to avoid it, instead hitting a tree or oncoming traffic.

Fortunately, infrared thermal sensors can detect a deer (or any animal or person) on or near the road well before you are close enough to hit them. This is something that simple headlights or even high beams cannot properly do. Some infrared systems can detect heat signatures up to 3000 feet beyond the scope of the headlight beam, giving you plenty of time to perform evasive action.

This same infrared system is paired with advanced Artificial Intelligence technology to give a visual and audible warning about the object up to 400 feet away. With its video connector able to connect to any automotive screen, HUD or video input, you’ll be able to drive safely in the dark or even during unfavorable road conditions like storms or fog.

Who are Infrared Car Cameras For?

You might think to yourself, “I am a safe driver, why would I need infrared cameras for my vehicle? Aren’t those only for truck fleets, law enforcement and military use?”

While infrared cameras are indeed used for fleet safety, law enforcement, and military, its technology is extremely valuable to the everyday driver. “Traffic death rates are three times greater at night than during the day,” as is reported by the National Safety Council. Any time you get on the road at night you are at risk of becoming a part of this statistic, whether the accident is your fault, or another driver’s fault, or an animal crossing the road. The bottom line is you are at risk.

That is why using technologies like infrared car cameras as a personal thermal car night vision system is so important. Whether you drive for a fleet, drive for a ride-sharing service, or drive for personal reasons at night and in unsafe road conditions it is best to have extra protection in place to save you from an accident.

thermal ir fog detection

How Do Infrared Car Cameras Work?

Infrared cameras use thermography which, literally translated, means “temperature picture”. According to the Academy ofScientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), “An infrared thermal imaging camera is one which can produce images of invisible infrared energy… which we perceive as heat… Some level of thermal energy is emitted from all living, objects, and materials”.

This means that these cameras detect the heat signatures that every living being and object emits and displays them for the driver in a bright color on the camera. This high level of detection greatly boosts the driver’s chances of being able to evade an obstacle in the road like a deer or pedestrian.

“IR camera represents the captured radiation as a thermogram, a gray or pseudo colour thermal image that depicts thermal variations across and object or scene” (source). These thermogram images are what drivers can use to see objects in the road.

This thermal-imaging technology used to be reserved for mainly military or scientific use, but luckily, it’s become more affordable for the everyday consumer in the form of infrared dash cams.

Not only do these cameras detect these obstacles, but some have AI support. AI car dash cams are the latest and greatest in infrared car camera technology and are an extremely useful tool for nighttime driving.

AI Paired with Infrared Technology Equals Safer Driving

An AI dash cam with infrared thermal night vision technology adds a measure of safety to any nighttime drive. AI is proven to reduce accident rates by alerting the driver to possible road hazards that the driver may not be able to detect themselves, especially in the dark of night or in a dense fog.

AI infrared car cameras thermal sensors provide extra-sensitive obstacle detection. These IR sensors allow the AI to relay to the driver that there’s an object in the road that needs to be avoided. This kind of technology is designed to keep the roads safer, not only at nighttime but during low visibility like in fog or dust storms.

The extended “vision” of the IR camera is a priceless benefit to the driver. These cameras see farther than any human eye could in these conditions, and highlights what could prove to be a danger to the car so that the driver can clearly see that hazard. The AI aspect is also extremely useful for truck or bus fleets, transportation services like Uber or Lyft, or other types of transportation that rely on safety and the competence of the driver. Check out our article on how AI cameras can help with this by clicking here.

car night vision camera

The Benefits of Infrared Night Vision Cameras

Using an infrared camera for night vision while driving can make your life a whole lot easier and safer. There are many benefits to using an infrared dash cam to improve your night-driving experiences, here are just a few of them:

  • Infrared cameras can see much farther than the human eye or headlights. As mentioned earlier, some cameras can see heat signatures up to 3000 feet beyond a regular headlight.
  • In complete darkness, infrared cameras offer the ability to see when you normally can’t. Their highly reliable IR sensors can detect objects farther away and more often than a human driver.
  • Infrared cameras don’t just work for dark conditions. They also work great for other low-visibility conditions such as fog, dust, and even smoke.
  • Infrared cameras use the same thermal technology previously only accessible to the military. Now this technology can be harnessed for civilian use to make roads safer for everybody.

Now that infrared technology has become more affordable, now’s a perfect time to get yourself an infrared dash cam. Able to be used in any car from daily drivers, to semi-trucks, to high-end exotic cars, infrared technology could help you drive safer and smarter.

The safety offered by car thermal night vision systems like infrared dash cams is more than worth the investment. Fortunately, there are cameras out there that offer the pinnacle of this infrared technology by reliable companies who have been researching and improving their product for years.

Night Owl Cameras: The Best Night Vision Tech

Below is information and specifics on two of the best thermal infrared car cameras on the market. Click the links to check them out:

  • Night Owl Thermal Night Vision Camera by Speedir: This camera uses infrared imaging and thermal sensing to detect heat signatures on a viewable display. It has a standard video connector to connect to any screen or video input, and can see pedestrians, animals, and vehicles up to 3000 feet beyond your headlights.
  • Night Owl Plus Infrared Deer Detector for Car by Speedir: This camera is not only an infrared thermal camera but also comes with and AI system to combine the best technologies for night driving and deliver a reliable product. This AI system is called an ADAS, or an advanced driver assistance system, to alert you to objects detected up to 400 feet away. Of course, this system still comes with impeccable long-range IR sensors to allow you to also see on screen up to 3000 feet beyond your headlights.

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