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My seven-year-old Mini Cooper is at the cutting edge of automotive technology. No, really. It has a camera that shows what is behind me when I reverse, beeping to alert me to obstacles. A see-through display on the dashboard shows me where to go without me having to look down at maps on my phone. With a wave of my hand, I can answer calls or have text messages read to me.

None of this tech came built into my Mini. A growing number of consumer-electronics start-ups are bringing the latest features of new high-end cars to the rest of us. Taking only a few minutes to install, these auto accessories pair with a car and a smartphone to improve safety and connectivity on the road — although they cost a lot more than a pair of furry dice.

For the past few weeks, I have been testing the Pearl RearVision back-up camera, which costs $500, and Navdy’s $800 “augmented driving” dashboard device, which shows maps, music and other messages from your smartphone.

Pearl RearVision

About two-thirds of new cars come with a back-up camera, to show the areas behind the vehicle that are hard to see using mirrors. Like cruise control, it is a convenience that becomes hard to give up.

Of course, most cars in use are not new — only 20 per cent of vehicles in the US have a back-up camera. Pearl is targeting the remaining 80 per cent. Self-installation camera kits are available for under $100 — far cheaper than Pearl’s — but require threading wires through the car and balancing a dedicated screen somewhere on the dashboard.

Though there are several components to it, Pearl’s system is fully wireless and far simpler. I was able to set it up in about 15 minutes. Its twin wide-angle cameras attach to a waterproof mount, which use screws and magnets to attach securely over most US licence plates. Pearl has tested hundreds of models but some require an adaptor. The battery charges through an inbuilt solar panel.

Two high-definition cameras together are better at detecting depth and distance than a single sensor, with one tuned to night-time viewing. The footage streams wirelessly to an adaptor that slots into the OBD port, which is usually under the steering wheel (OBD — or on-board diagnostics — is used by mechanics to diagnose warning lights and is standard in all cars made after 1996).

Pearl’s smartphone app connects to the OBD dongle through WiFi — or Bluetooth, if an iPhone is already connected to another WiFi network — to receive the video. If it detects an obstacle 6ft back, it will beep a warning; 2ft away and the app will flash red to tell you to stop. These alerts sound even if you do not have Pearl’s app open on your phone.

Although the video is high-definition and processed through a computer vision algorithm that looks for obstacles, I detected no delay in the live footage as I reversed into parking spaces. It made a huge difference getting in and out of my tight garage. The 180-degree cameras almost give the impression of being able to see around corners and Pearl’s alerts work even for moving obstacles, such as cyclists.

Over a few weeks of testing, it worked perfectly every time — almost as if it had been built into the car.

Navdy

Navdy’s vision is a little more futuristic than Pearl’s. If only a minority of cars today have a rear-view camera, a heads-up display on the dashboard is an even rarer addition.

Yet Navdy is trying to solve a ubiquitous problem: drivers want to stay connected but smartphones are a dangerous distraction. The Navdy device sits on the dashboard immediately behind the steering wheel and using Bluetooth shows maps, messages and other content from a smartphone.

This tiny projector and clear plastic display is about the size of a portable CD player and is held by magnets to a mount, which is suctioned on to the dashboard and wired into the OBD port.

After a bit of fiddling to find the right angle, I found Navdy’s images were clear and crisp on its glasslike screen while leaving the road clearly visible. Navdy says the display is 40 times brighter than an iPhone’s, making it readable even in the strong California sunshine.

Navigation is clearly its killer app. As well as getting around town or finding the right exit on the motorway, I found its rolling map particularly handy when showing upcoming bends on a windy mountain road. To conserve battery and data on the phone, the device has its own GPS and offline Google Maps for the entire US (or all of Europe, when it launches there early next year). Having the car’s speed alongside the map was a bonus, with optional warnings when you exceed the limit. For a long road trip in unfamiliar territory, Navdy would make a big difference.

Navdy works well for handling phone calls with less distraction. A camera facing the driver can detect a wave to the right or left, to answer or dismiss a call. Its computer vision technology was impressive at distinguishing a wave from a turn of the wheel.

I am conflicted, though, about its messaging applications, which risk being distracting.

Even though the road was still visible behind the messages, which can be read out over the car’s speakers or shown in text, my focus was drawn to the content of the display, not the road. That did not feel very different to using a smartphone.

Verdict

Pearl and Navdy show the power of combining computers the size of a matchbox with machine-vision technologies and new kinds of displays. Their add-ons are in many ways superior to their equivalents that automotive manufacturers build into cars. When it comes to consumer electronics, I would take Silicon Valley over Detroit any day. However, they show that the balance between constant connectivity and technological distraction can be delicate.