The proliferation of rear-view backup cameras has been a good thing, and like a lot of technology started exclusively on high-end autos and is now trickling down to more affordable cars. Time was this feature was only found on rides with navigation systems, as the camera needed a screen to do its thing and the Nav screen was a perfect interface. Now small back-up camera screens are popping up in rearview mirrors and on the dash, and while some of these are almost too small to be of any real use (especially when backing up to a trailer) they are still good at alerting to you to both inert and nert items that may be in harm’s way as you back up.
Now the next step is . . . Surround Vision. Or, in Infiniti’s case, Around View. It honestly freaked my out the first time I backed up, because I wasn’t expecting this visual wonder. Now, I know it’s been on the market for a couple of years but this was my first exposure to it, and what we have instead of one backup camera there’s a total of four of the little wide-angle buggers located at the rear, front and in the base of the side mirrors. This gives you a view around the entire vehicle (in this case, an EX35 AWD), which is pretty wild tech juju when you think of it. The question is, will we soon get to the point where we never look out of the dad gum windows anymore?