Japanese carmaker Nissan and telecommunication major Docomo will use fifth-generation mobile communications connectivity in a moving a vehicle to test out Invisible-to-Visible (I2V) technology.

The technology was first showcased at the CES 2019 in Las Vegas in January, which is being tested at Grandrive, Nissan’s proving ground in Yokosuka, Japan.

The I2V system, is a future Nissan Intelligent Mobility technology that merges the real and virtual worlds, by combining information from sensors outside and inside the vehicle using the data from the cloud, which the company says helps drivers 'see the invisible' – such as what’s farther down the road, behind a building or around the corner.

The technology also connects drivers and passengers to the Metaverse, a virtual world where people can interact through avatars. Family, friends or others in a remote location can appear inside the car as three-dimensional (3D), augmented-reality avatars to provide company or assistance.

As part of the field test, the companies are using Docomo's high-speed mobile 5G connectivity to transmit avatar data wirelessly into the test vehicle, and in-car camera views from the vehicle, in real time. The test vehicle is based on Nissan’s NV350 Caravan.

The partners will evaluate how the people inside the car and those represented through avatars sense each other’s presence via the user interfaces. The usability of I2V’s interactive communication features will also be assessed. Nissan and Docomo plan to continue their joint field tests and research on I2V technology and its applications, and to offer new connected-car experiences to customers in the future.