The in-car night-vision systems, launched more than a decade ago in US, identify pedestrians approaching a roadway to make driving safer. However, they do not identify animals.
Now, a new system called Night View Assist Plus identifies people as well as cows, moose, horses, deer, camels and even wild boar.
Recognising animals is much more difficult than recognising people. Species vary widely in size and shape, have profiles that change drastically when they turn, and move differently.
The system, being rolled out by Swedish-American safety-system company Auto-liv and Mercedes-Benz, merges data from two cameras to create an illuminated view of what's ahead.
When an animal or pedestrian nears a roadway, the system highlights it on an in-dash display, and, if danger is imminent, sounds an alarm and pre-charges the car's brakes.
The European version also includes a spotlight that shines a tracking beam onto live obstacles in the road, making them almost impossible to miss. However, US regulators have not approved that feature yet.