The dominance of touchscreens in cars occurs for many reasons, from cost savings to simply being an efficient way to control complex new features. But study after study shows that moving many of a car’s controls to a central screen isn’t safe. It’s a sad day even our cars can’t give us a break from screen fatigue.
As a result, more and more automakers are quite literally looking to the future. Could your car’s windshield be the next great frontier in automotive displays and control?
Hyundai parts supplier and technology specialist Hyundai Mobis seems to think so. The Korean group’s subsidiary announced this week that it is collaborating with German optics giant Zeiss to develop what they call a “holographic head-up display.” What that means is that the company’s ad says rather enthusiastically: “The entire windshield turns into a full-screen display!”
The two companies say their idea takes head-up displays, which have been a feature in cars (and increasingly popular) since the 1980s, and dramatically 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 with will include menus, entertainment, volume controls, videos, and even games.
It’s worth noting that the included concept image, which resembles the interior of the Kia EV9, does not include a center display or driver-facing display at all. It’s all on the windshield now.
“Imagine navigation and driving information unfolding like a panorama across the wide, transparent windshield where the driver’s eyes are located,” Mobis officials said in a press release. “Passengers next to the driver watch movies or other videos on the car’s windshield. While watching the latest video, a video call comes in, and a face welcoming a friend appears in the corner of the glass screen. This dream technology, which previously only existed in movies or advertisements, is about to be “It becomes real.”
The way it works is very smart. An ultra-thin, transparent film capable of displaying holograms is laminated onto the windshield, and a projector mounted somewhere projects still images and video onto the screen, Mobis and Zeiss say. Both companies emphasize that the displays will not be obstructive but transparent, and designed to not increase driver distraction; Indeed, what the driver sees is different from what the passenger sees, so the latter can watch movies or play games on the glass. “Another advantage is that it can completely transform the interior front-end design of vehicles by eliminating various dashboard-mounted displays while providing an open, unobstructed feel without interfering with the driver and passengers’ field of vision,” Mobis officials said.
It’s not clear how the display will be powered, though Automotive News suggests a likely outcome is voice and gesture control. This is in line with what some other competitors are aiming to do as well. BMW Neue Klasse concepts retain their central display but are also playing with full head-up displays, and the automaker has said it plans to focus more on voice controls in the coming years. Voice commands in cars are getting better (some, certainly more than others), and this may emerge as the most effective way to operate a feature in the car without taking your eyes off the road.
Like BMW, Hyundai seems very serious about this technology. Mobis and Zeiss say it is being developed for a future model for mass production as early as 2027 and that prototype demonstrations are already underway.
Could this be a better solution than fiddling with the screen when you’re trying to drive? I think it depends on how the voice control interface and commands actually work, and whether these displays will actually reduce distraction rather than add to it. With a little luck, the driver can make the displays smaller to display the information they need at that time, all while eliminating the need for a screen inside the car.
Hey, it might work.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
