Lexus will introduce a new technology into their LS460 this fall that senses “pedestrians, pets, and other road hazards”. The technology was co-created by NEC Electronics along with Toyota. After the introduction into the LS460s, presumably the technology will be used in other Toyota owned vehicles. The image processing chip is very energy efficient and only uses 2 watts of power. The new technology will be a significant leap in safety systems and hopefully will prevent many crashes in the future.

Yoshirou Miyaji, the general manager of NEC predicts the technology will become more popular in 2010. Miyaji is expecting 50% of cars in Japan and 20% of the cars in the world to begin using the image processor. It will also be used in the areas of security, gaming, and robotics, though the article doesn’t go into details.