Nissan rear-camera innovation brings luxury features to the 2013 Altima

It has never been done before. Nissan managed to install on its all-new Altima three features that before were only seen on luxury models.

The new 2013 Nissan Altima can come with 'lane departure warning', a feature that warns a driver if the vehicle drifts
from the lane. How? The specially developed rear camera is constantly scanning the roadway for lane markers; if it detects the car leaving the confines of the lane, an icon lights up and an audible cue sounds.

The 2013 Altima can also help the driver know more about his or her surroundings with 'blind spot warning'. This icon lights up to signal when a vehicle is detected in the vehicle's blind spot area. If the warning is ignored and the driver attempts a lane change by putting on their turn signal, a beeping cue also beings to sound.

'Moving object detection' is another perk available in this latest car from Nissan. When a driver puts the car in reverse, the rear camera scans the area behind the vehicle. If a moving object is detected in this area, a yellow frame appears around the rear camera image in the center dash screen and a beeping prompt sounds.

These features usually require additional sensors and cameras; but Nissan's 2013 Altima does it all using only one camera. This first-of-its-kind innovation means that the camera is equipped with a wide-angle lens to see more, and sophisticated software to accomplish more advanced functions.

"What's very neat is that typically these technologies require extra hardware. So that's what typically makes this technology expensive and isolated to luxury class vehicles. So for the first time we are bringing this technology to the mid-sized sedan segment, especially lane departure warning and moving object detection," said Vishnu Jayamohan, Nissan Product Planning and Advanced Strategy.

Another worlds-first related to the new Altima is the self-cleaning capability that comes with this new camera. A drop of windshield wiper cleaning solution is regularly carried from the front of the car to the back and released onto the camera lens. Then an air compressor releases a burst of air to finish the cleaning process and dry the camera.

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