Driving a car under conditions of reduced vision. like during night-time. rain. snowfall or fog can create considerable discomfort and is moreover a contributing factor to quite a number of traffic accidents. Among these the striking but rather rare mass-collisions in dense fog have gained much public attention. In the framework of PROMETHEUS various companies started research to overcome the existing problems. The different approaches and demonstrator projects have been summed up under the name “vision enhancement”.

This paper concentrates on the system concepts which make use of the Infrared Technology, but the other concepts will also be shortly described. Specific emphasis is put on results of theoretical and experimental research which has been performed by BMW and some external partners to investigate the potential of the Infrared Technology for a vision enhancement system in vehicles.