Nissan was the first company to introduce the concept of a 360 degree parking camera all the way back in 2007. They called it the Around View Monitor, giving the driver a bird’s eye view of the vehicle and its surroundings. It uses software to “stitch” together 4 camera views from around the car to give a top down view of the vehicle. The cameras are usually the backup camera, a camera positioned under each exterior side view mirror and then one up front in the grille area. As such, it’s generally best as something installed from the factory as it’s pretty difficult to achieve through the aftermarket.
This was pretty revolutionary and came just as the shift to SUVs hit another level of popularity. SUVs were starting to get a bit bigger and understandably it can be hard for customers to park some of these behemoths. Note: it’s 15 years later and it’s STILL hard for customers to park anything it seems.
A 360 view camera can give a driver immediate feedback as to if they’re actually in their targeted parking space. It can also provide an additional measure of safety as to anything small being around the vehicle as you start to back up or maneuver the car. The sight lines in SUVs/minivans/trucks can inhibit visibility of short objects (kids, bikes, etc) from the driver’s seat, so a ground view camera system such as these can be extremely important and valuable.
These days you can find 360 parking cameras on tons of vehicles on the market, mainstream or luxury. The 2021 Nissan Rogue had it as standard on the SV trim, just one up from the base S. This was pretty remarkable and was definitely a key unique selling point advantage for the Rogue. Unfortunately, it looks like for 2022 Nissan removed it from the SV and now it’s only on the SL and up. *cue the sad trombone*
In terms of feature design, we find it best when both your directional view, backup camera when reversing, and forward camera when pulling in, can be displayed simultaneously with the top down view. This is generally easy with landscape (see Genesis G90 above), widescreen displays, but a little trickier with some of the newer, vertically-oriented portrait displays. Also appreciate when a brand can overlay the parking sensor distance warnings on the same image, rather than have another display area for that piece.
Several brands, including BMW, Audi, Toyota, Lexus, Genesis and others have also taken to providing 3D representations of the vehicle.
Other cars also allow specific views that can help you focus on the side of the car and see if the wheels (front or rear) are getting close to a curb, or even off-road specific views.
These 360 view cameras would be a huge benefit to nearly any vehicle/driver. How much would you be willing to pay to have this feature on your car? $100? $250? $500? Let us know in the comments!