Samsung display on truck's rear lets vehicles behind see road ahead
The technology was deployed as a way to make single-lane highways or roads safer by allowing vehicles following trucks to know when it's safe to pass.
The Samsung Safety Truck uses two built-in front-facing cameras and a specially designed transportation software platform to capture and transmit a picture of the road ahead.
The Samsung display combines four, 46-in., high-definition 1080p LED screens to create the video wall.
Called the OverView Seamless Videowall (OSV), the rear-facing displays are dustproof and waterproof and certified by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) against environmental conditions, "ensuring a clear picture regardless of the road or weather," Samsung said in a statement. The OSV displays are the same kind sold by Samsung and used for outdoor signs.
"The Samsung Safety Truck project will be running for a year, but we are not planning to sell the product in the short term," a Samsung spokesman said. "We’re currently in discussion with various business partners about how best to utilize this opportunity, but it is still too early to talk about any details at this point."
While Samsung built the Safety Truck using a Volvo semi-tractor trailor, it could "eventually be applied to any truck," the spokesman added.
Samsung originally built the prototype in June 2015. It then worked with Argentina's non-government road safety organizations and the government to perform tests in order to comply with the current national protocols and obtain needed permits and approvals.
Garbarino, a large Argentinian retail firm with factories throughout the country, sponsored the official launch of the Samsung Safety Truck.
While the truck was developed in Argentina, Samsung said it has drawn attention from around the world.
The Safety Truck was a joint idea between Samsung and the Leo Burnett Company, a Chicago-based worldwide advertising agency.
"Samsung is always looking for opportunities to apply technology in innovative ways to improve people's lives," Sang Jik Lee, president of Samsung Electronics Argentina, said in a statement. "Leveraging our experience as the world leader in display technology, along with Leo Burnett, we came up with the idea of the Samsung Safety Truck, an invention that we believe will change the history of road safety."