/Patent Tracker
SonyPatent applicationCars & transportInterest 7/10

Sony patents cars that project messages onto the road with extra lights

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Sony describes a system where a vehicle projects images or text onto the road ahead to communicate with other drivers or pedestrians. It also uses lights on the car itself to add extra visual cues to the projected message, making it easier to tell where the information is coming from.

Why it mattersIt could help drivers and pedestrians quickly understand what a car is trying to say, such as yielding or warning of a hazard, by combining road projections with vehicle lights.

In the filing’s own words

The present technology relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a road surface projection system that make it possible to allow the intuitive identification of the source of information. A projection control unit controls an output of projection information, which is projected from a mobile body onto a road surface on which the mobile body travels, for communication with another entity. An addition control unit controls light emission of a light-emitting unit provided on the mobile body, as additional information presentation corresponding to the projection information. The present technology can be applied to vehicles configured to perform road surface projection, for example.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a projection control unit configured to control an output of projection information, which is projected from a mobile body onto a road surface on which the mobile body travels, for communication with another entity; and an addition control unit configured to control light emission of a light-emitting unit provided on the mobile body, as additional information presentation corresponding to the projection information.

Facts

Company
Sony (SONY GROUP CORPORATION)
Official title
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND ROAD SURFACE PROJECTION SYSTEM
Publication number
US20260326664A1
Application number
19099460
Filed
Jul 21, 2023
Published
Oct 22, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
16

Classified under

B60Q 1/543 Operations & transportB60Q 1/38 Operations & transportB60Q 1/507 Operations & transportB60Q 5/005 Operations & transportB60Q 2400/20 Operations & transportB60Q 2400/50 Operations & transport
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Sony in Cars & transport

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.