Wilson and his techno-gnomes are already working on this in their lab south of San Francisco. To realize the possibility of cars communicating as they move, Wilson explains, "DGPS technology must be installed in a vehicle platform and interfaced with electronic compasses and other onboard systems." By linking this information with both data from other onboard systems and up-to-date information from the Internet, Wilson believes, it will be possible to determine the position of vehicles to an accuracy of a few centimeters within the next 10 decade.
"A server will convey this information to the various onboard assistance systems," he says, "which will then initiate appropriate actions to prevent an accident."
In Wilson's view, "The superiority of PASS compared to current navigation systems can be likened to the leap from roadmaps made of paper to today's navigation systems. Roadmaps with extremely high resolution will combine with other innovative technologies to provide a new dimension in proactive highway safety."
Taking things a step further, Wilson also wants PASS to process information about the road your vehicle is passing over at any given moment. It will, he believes, know the road's geometry (how wide, uphill or downhill), its grade, and the exact position of the center line. "It will even know the kind of pavement, the type of surface and the friction between the road and the tires," Wilson believes. He even suggests that a regular supply of timely data will even allow the system to record the exact locations of potholes.