  In recent years, the use of the automobile as the primary mode of
transportation has been increasing and driving has become an important part of
daily life. Driving is a multi-sensory experience as drivers rely on their
senses to provide them with important information. In a vehicular context human
senses are all too often limited and obstructed. Today, road accidents
constitute the eighth leading cause of death. The escalation of technology has
propelled new ways in which driver's senses may be augmented. The enclosed
aspect of a car, allied with the configuration of the controls and displays
directed towards the driver, offer significant advantages for augmented reality
(AR) systems when considering the amount of immersion it can provide to the
user. In addition, the inherent mobility and virtually unlimited power autonomy
transform cars into perfect mobile computing platforms. However, automobiles
currently present limited network connectivity and thus the created augmented
objects are merely providing information captured by in-vehicle sensors,
cameras and other databases. By combining the new paradigm of Vehicular Ad Hoc
Networking (VANET) with AR human machine interfaces, we show that it is
possible to design novel cooperative Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS),
that base the creation of AR content on the information collected from
neighbouring vehicles or roadside infrastructures. As such we implement
prototypes of both visual and acoustic AR systems, which can significantly
improve the driving experience. We believe our results contribute to the
formulation of a vision where the vehicle is perceived as an extension of the
body which permeates the human senses to the world outside the vessel, where
the car is used as a better, multi-sensory immersive version of a mobile phone
that integrates touch, vision and sound enhancements, leveraging unique
properties of VANET.
