High-resolution cameras are essential to the active safety features popping up on modern cars, but it would appear they're good for more than accident avoidance. Volvo handed an XC60 to Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Barbara Davidson, and asked her to see what they can do in the hands of a professional.
According to Volvo, this is the first time a car has been used as a camera. The collection of 30 images, designed to capture life on the streets of Copenhagen, were all taken through the lens of the safety cameras on an XC60. The images were first shown off at a gallery in Shoreditch, London this week, but Volvo will be taking them on tour throughout 2017.
"The collection does two things. Firstly it is a snapshot of European city life in all its glory; secondly it also highlights the complex environments that we live in," says Davidson. "It is thanks to the cameras and other on-board sensors that cars like the Volvo XC60 make modern city life safer for pedestrians and other road users. With this project we connect art and safety for people to see the benefits of this technology."
When they aren't being used to capture city life in Copenhagen, the cameras on the XC60 form part of its incredibly sophisticated active safety suite. The car will automatically brake when it detects a collision coming, steer the driver back into their lane if they drift toward oncoming traffic, help apply the right amount of steering in an emergency swerve and actively stops you from changing lanes into another car.
You can check out a selection of the images in our gallery, and have a look at the (artsy) video below for a better idea of how they were captured.
Source: Volvo
