The dominance of touchscreens in cars is happening for tons of reasons, from cost savings to simply being an effective way to control complex new features. But study after study shows that relegating so many car controls to a central screen just isn't very safe. And it's a sad day when even our cars can't give us a break from screen fatigue.
As a result, more and more automakers are looking forward—literally. Could your windshield be the next great frontier for car displays and control?
Hyundai's parts supplier and tech specialist Hyundai Mobis apparently thinks so. The subsidiary of the Korean conglomerate announced this week that it's teaming up with German optical giant Zeiss to develop what they call a "Holographic Windshield Display." What that means, the company's announcement says rather excitedly: "The entire windshield becomes a full-display screen!"
The two companies say that their idea takes the windshield heads-up display, which has been a feature on cars (and an increasingly popular one) since the 1980s, and vastly expands what it can do. While current HUDs often display relatively simple things like speed and navigation directions, the system these two companies are working would include menus, entertainment, audio controls, videos and even games.
Notably, the included concept image, which resembles the inside of a Kia EV9, does not include a central display screen or a driver-facing display at all. Everything is on the windshield now.
"Imagine navigation and driving information unfolding like a panorama across the wide, transparent windshield where the driver’s gaze rests," Mobis officials said in a news release. "Passengers next to the driver watch movies or other videos on the vehicle’s glass. While viewing the latest video, a video call comes in, and a friend’s welcome face appears in the corner of the glass screen. This dream technology, previously existing only in movies or advertisements, is about to become reality."
The way it works is very clever. Mobis and Zeiss say that an ultra- thin, transparent film capable of displaying holograms is coated onto the windshield, and a projector mounted somewhere displays static images and video to the screen. The two companies stress that the displays won't be obstructive but transparent, and designed not to add to a driver's distraction; indeed, what the driver can see is different from what the passenger can see, so the latter can watch movies or play games on the glass. "Another advantage is that it can completely transform the interior front design of vehicles by eliminating various display devices mounted on the dashboard while providing an unobstructed, open feeling without interfering the driver’s and passengers’ field of vision," Mobis officials said.
It's unclear how the screen would be operated, although Automotive News reports the likely outcome is voice and gesture controls. That's in line with what some other competitors aim to do as well. BMW's Neue Klasse concepts keep their central screen but are also playing with full-windshield displays, and that automaker has said it plans to put a much bigger emphasis on voice controls in the coming years. Voice commands are getting better in cars (some, certainly more than others) and that may emerge as the most efficient way to engage a feature in car without taking your eyes off the road.
And like BMW, Hyundai seems quite serious about this technology. Mobis and Zeiss say that it is being developed for a future mass-production model as early as 2027 and that prototype demonstrations are already underway.
Can this be a better solution than fiddling with a screen when you're trying to drive? I think that depends on how the control interface and voice commands actually work, and whether these displays will actually work to reduce distraction instead of adding to it. With any luck, a driver can minimize the displays even further to just project the information they need at that time, all while foregoing the in-car screen.
Hey, it just might work.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
