Is the Lanmodo Night Vision System good idea?

(There’s an update to this article, which can be read here)

We, as a society, seem to be inundated with cameras. Some are there and we don?t even see them (public security cameras) and others we?re super aware of and interact with (the camera on your phone). Our cars even have cameras, most commonly in the form of a backup camera, and even in the ?protect yourself in a crash report? form of a dash cam. Well, what if your dash cam could help you see even better? That?s what the Lanmodo Night Vision System is offering up.

On the surface, this seems like a rather good concept. You?ve got a big screen (8.2? with 1080P resolution) displaying what the night-vision capable lens on the device is capturing, up to 300m down the road. You can even add on a 720P rear-facing camera (believe this is just standard vision) to help you see what?s going on behind you (either automatically when you reverse, or manually via a button press on the main device).

And, at first, I was thinking positively on the Lanmodo Night Vision System. But as those thoughts ruminated, the device itself introduces two very big question marks in my mind. First off, you?re paying $499 for the device (or $599 with the rear camera add-on) – and this is offering no recording capability whatsoever? So, you?ve have to have another box mounted if you wanted to have a dash cam (which seems like a good idea for incontrovertible proof of what happened after a fender bender).

Secondly, and this is the bigger issue I?m seeing with the Lanmodo Night Vision System, is how it?s intended to work. It?s processing and showing you what you might not normally see in the dark – but it?s giving you that on a relatively small screen. By that, yes, it?s a larger screen, but compared to the view you have out of your windshield? It?s tiny. And if you?re paying more attention to the screen than the actual road, I don?t think you?re actually being a very safe driver.

Are there scenarios where it might be a-ok? Say, you?re offroading on a trail, or going down country road in an unpopulated area? Sure, so long as you?re moving slow. If you?re moving at any amount of speed, I think you?re asking for trouble. And given the perceived increased awareness this device provides, I don?t doubt that folks will drive beyond what their capabilities – and conditions – would allow.

Ultimately, the Lanmodo Night Vision System is a cool gadget, but to me it feels like it?s going to cause more problems than it actually solves. When the day comes where this sort of view can be overlaid on the entirety of the windshield? Then, friends, we?ve got a different story altogether. Relying on the view provided on a mini-tablet, rather than what your own eyes see out of the windshield in front of you, that?s a false sense of security. Or at least, that?s my take on it. If you think otherwise, feel free to reach out and let me know. lanmodo.com