CES 2023 in Las Vegas has shown how the interior of cars will change, and the way drivers receive information and interact with the exterior. Oliver Zipse, CEO of BMW is clear:
“I am absolutely convinced that the huge screens in the central area of the dashboard will disappear within ten years.”
From the inclusion of the first digital screen in a car -a small clock-, to the most complex current systems (which can incorporate up to five large, tactile and haptic dimensions along the entire dashboard), the evolution in the last decade has been brutal.
First came the large screens in the center console, which were made touchscreen and designed in the tablet style; later, the instrumentation behind the wheel also became a screen; and now, both are integrated and extend towards the passenger area to cover the entire dashboard.
The next step is to dispense with all of them to convert the vehicle’s windows into projection screens.
The windshield is the protagonist of this revolution, with increasingly sophisticated projection systems (HUD head-up display), such as those that have been presented in this edition of CES.
The reasons for this new approach are to increase safety and improve the driver’s interaction with the vehicle and its environment. “Distractions, and not speed, are the main cause of accidents.
It is a mistake that the driver has to look down to operate the controls of the car”, explained Oliver Zipse in Las Vegas, during the presentation of the BMW Mixed Reality Slider system.
In this scenario, it was even pointed out that the upcoming EU regulations might force manufacturers to replace the large digital screens inside cars with projection systems on the windshield.
In this way, windshields will become increasingly complex and will require more trained and specialized technicians for their maintenance.
Along the entire windshield
The system presented by BMW -a brand that began to popularize these systems- that will be included in the series models launched from 2025, allows drivers the option of how much augmented reality they want to see projected on their windshield while driving.
The full-width projection of the windshield allows information to be displayed on the largest possible area. You can go from just seeing information related to driving and safety, to a completely virtual experience with the windshield darkened.
This five-step selection ranges from analogue content, through information related to driving, content from the communications system or augmented reality projection, to entering virtual worlds.
Dimmable windows can also be used to gradually fade reality down to a completely virtual experience with a darkened windshield.
The solution proposed by Continental
Continental’s Scenic View HUD won the 2023 CES Innovation Award in the Advanced Mobility and Vehicle Technology product category.
This system reflects information onto a black band that runs along the entire bottom of the windshield, creating a viewing angle that allows for a longer focal length for drivers to focus on the road. Continental echoes the same message:
“Safety must be a priority and with these systems the driver is more connected with the road and with his journey.”
Unlike BMW’s proposal, the Scenic View HUD does not project information and graphics on the transparent area of the windshield, but on a black printed area. Your advantages: less reflections, higher brightness and better visibility in all lighting conditions. Its big drawback is that it can’t project information into the driver’s direct field of vision, or combine the graphics with the actual objects the driver sees through the windshield.
New interior design
Both systems make it possible to do without all the screens in the car, both those on the dashboard and those on the center console. The vehicle’s instrumentation, as well as all the connectivity, navigation, security or multimedia menus, are projected on different areas of the windshield.
In this way, designers can design cleaner interiors and even rethink the dashboard and center console itself. In addition, the interaction of all passengers is encouraged, since the virtual image projected on the windshield is visible to all of them.
It is the first step towards the “saloon” type interiors that will arrive with fully autonomous cars that have a retractable steering wheel and bottom bracket or even do without them.
Source: Carglass