Dash cams are nothing new, and whether you love them or hate them they're an increasingly popular accessory that's not going away anytime soon, in fact, quite the opposite. While some aftermarket accessories come and go without manufacturers ever bothering about them too much, dash cams might just be the next "must-have" as a factory option following in the footsteps of satellite navigation and reversing cameras. It's hard to think of many automakers who offer any sort of dash cam as part of standard or optional equipment, but that will probably start to change very quickly now Nissan has unveiled one for the Juke Crossover imaginatively called the JukeCam.
Unlike early satellite navigation systems, where aftermarket units were often available in more advanced forms than those fitted at the factory, the JukeCam goes further than the average dash cam as not only is it 4K ready, it's also a 360-degree unit.
Nissan pretty much states the obvious by saying JukeCam can be used for recording driving adventures, or more pragmatically, for recording potential evidence in the event of a crash or other incident. The camera should be capable of recording your entire journey during all but the longest trips as it can store up to three hours of footage.
Nissan says the camera can also be used a kind of 360-degree GoPro for sports since it can be removed from the Juke and attached to a helmet mount. To demonstrate its capabilities, the Japanese auto giant got some professional pogo stick jumpers (yes there are such people) to wear the cameras while setting a Guinness World Record for most cars jumped over consecutively in a promotional video.
At the moment, the JukeCam that screws into a mount that can be fitted to the dash of the Juke will only be offered in Europe, but it surely won't be long until it finds its way across the Atlantic to North America.
Helen Perry, the Nissan Juke's European Chief Marketing Manager, commented: "JukeCam was born out of a desire to create a camera product which fits with the active lives of our customers. It's perfect for use on the road as a dash cam, but versatile enough to be easily removed to create amazing 360º first-person footage of their adventures."
