CMU Developing Smart Headlight Technology

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - You know the feeling. You're driving along and all of a sudden, you're blinded by another driver's headlights.

That may someday be a thing of the past, thanks to new technology being developed at Carnegie Mellon University.

It's new technology that has the potential to help every single driver on the roads.

"It just allows you to have less stress while you're driving because you can see some things better and you can make judgments earlier when you're driving," Associate Professor of Robotics Srini Narasimhan said.

With the headlight, a driver would be able to turn them on at night and leave them on without causing a dangerous glare.

The light senses and tracks virtually any number of oncoming drivers, blacking out only the small parts of the headlight beam that would otherwise shine into their eyes.

Today, about a dozen journalists from as far as Tel Aviv, Israel traveled to CMU to get a look at the technology.

Some, used bicycle lights, to simulate how it would look behind the wheel.

This technology would also be especially helpful in difficult weather like rain or snow. The light would reduce the visibility of the drops or snowflakes.

"That basically allows your brain to process everything else that is in front of you in the road, it doesn't mean that you should drive at 100 mph in snow," Narasimhan said.

The lead engineer on this project is actually in Switzerland this week, presenting the technology at a European conference.

As for a timeline on when you may see these headlights in your vehicle, it will likely be at least three or four years.

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