The science of perception is a fascinating field. Humans are constantly “seeing” things that they technically are unable to physically see. We synthesise different colours of light into blends, see depth in two-dimensional paintings, and even piece peripheral images together to compensate for our blind spots. But nonetheless, this wondrous ability of the mind to extend its vision and perception far beyond the capacities of the body has a limit. Some things are simply outside of our sphere of vision. And when that’s the case, we need to look to means that are more than human to adequately solve this problem.
Driving’s one of the biggest examples. We need to see everywhere at once: eyes on the road, eyes on the speed limit, eyes on the parked cars, eyes in front, eyes behind – you’d need to have a thousand eyes to be able to look everywhere you need to. In the past, we’ve managed to make do with various assemblages of mirrors; now we have a better solution: the rear vision camera kit.
Also known as the reverse camera, this handy device shows what’s behind you – and it shows it accurately. Mirrors are infamously unreliable: “Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear,” reads the legally mandated warning on American wing mirrors. That doesn’t stop people from using mirrors, of course. But there is a better option available, and people shouldn’t be shy about taking it.
The rear view camera has all sorts of advantages over its low-tech counterparts. From working at night to showing a distance scale on a monitor, the camera-monitor setup is vastly superior to the primitive mirror arrangement.
Now, often people just want the latest tech because they think it’s cool, and the choice to have it or not is just a matter of personal preference and priority. But that’s not the case when driving – when driving, it’s a matter of safety, and lives are on the line. Cameras are a must, not a maybe.
