With three-dimensional effects such as a red glowing stop sign in front of the screen, row houses visible on the navigation system, and the rotation of the vehicle manufacturer's logo in the air in front of the dashboard, Continental aims to revolutionize the display technology in vehicles. Silicon Valley company Leia Inc. to bring three-dimensional images to vehicles in unprecedented quality. went to cooperate with. The name of this innovative cockpit solution is the Natural 3D Lightfield Instrument Cluster, the Natural 3D Lightfield Instrument Cluster. Lightfield displays not only provide comfortable perception of 3D depth, but also zamIt offers next-generation environments that enable highlights, glows and other complex lighting effects to be created instantly. The technology makes the interaction of the driver with the vehicle more comfortable and intuitive, making information real to the driver. zamIt ensures that it is presented instantly and securely. It also allows front and rear seat passengers to share their 3D experience with the driver.

“A new dimension in comfort and safety”

The new Lightfield cockpit stands out as an evolutionary step in the design of human-machine interaction in automotive vehicles. Head of the Continental Devices & Driver HMI Business Unit, Dr. Frank Rabe says this about the technology:

“One of the biggest challenges in today's automotive industry is to develop intelligent concepts for human-machine interaction, creating solutions that enrich the driver experience and allow the driver to interact with the vehicle simply and effectively without being distracted by the road. The new Lightfield screen offers the vehicle not only the three-dimensional view of the highest quality, this innovative technology is the same. zamIt creates a new dimension of comfort and safety. In addition, our solution offers every vehicle manufacturer the opportunity to improve the driver experience for customers and differentiate themselves from their competitors through customized scopes for design. ”

Mass production of the new system is planned to start by 2022. With automatic driving, it will be even easier for the driver to participate in other activities such as video calling, internet surfing, or watching programs and movies. David Fattal, co-founder and CEO of Leia Inc., provides the information:

“The car has now become a new stage in the mobile world. In our opinion, the car is a bigger, more impressive version of a smartphone with 3D awareness of its surroundings. It's a great place to move the growing Lightfield ecosystem to immersive games, video streaming, social networking, and even e-commerce. ”

Visualizing the content on a large screen designed specifically for in-car visual comfort will provide a much more enjoyable and fun experience than using one's smartphone. It will also provide an opportunity to take advantage of internal or external camera systems for video calling or augmented reality functions.

3D Lightfield content is visible to everyone in the vehicle

Leia's Lightfield technology, used for Continental's native 3D display, does not require a head tracking camera. This is a practical and of course low-cost advantage. What's more, the front and rear passengers can clearly see the same 3D image from their seating position. This was something that wasn't possible before. There is also another milestone in the quality of the new system compared to the previous 3D methods. The 3D image produced by the Lightfield screen consists of eight aspects of the same object.

The viewpoint on the Lightfield screen changes according to the position of each passenger, providing an exceptional and unique display of natural information. Ai Thanks to Lightfield, we get a completely new 3D display screen, Continental said Continental, Display Solutions Product Manager Kai Hohmann. The newly developed light conductor with nano structure is essential for quality. We don't break the light, we bend and direct it to get the optimal 3D effect you need. Even with this technology alone, it is possible to meet the ever increasing comfort and safety requirements inside the vehicle. ”

Continental is currently adapting Leia's technology for use in vehicles. Near zamUntil now, parallax barriers or lenticular techniques were used to achieve a glasses-free 3D effect. The 3D effect would be achieved by a special method of blocking or breaking the light. Parallax barrier systems, in particular, require a head tracking system to adjust the 3D views to the exact head position of the observer, offering application for only one user. They can also adversely affect perceived image quality and the effectiveness of light output in a multi-user application designed for the driver, co-driver and rear passenger. In the automotive industry, the highest quality is essential, especially for information display. Continental's new 3D Lightfield application, featuring Leia's DLB ™ (Diffractive Light Field Backlighting) technology, offers functions over traditional 3D displays and allows a crystal clear view even when sunlight is directly on it.

The use of nano-technology in Silicon Valley

The native 3D Light Field Device Cluster technology offers the image and feel it creates, as well as the resolution quality is much higher than traditional 3D displays. This is achieved through the newly developed technology, the Diffractive Light Field Backlighting, so that light conductors with diffraction grating and nano-structures create precise light diffraction under the display panel. This creates a natural 3D effect. This light field module can be easily integrated into commercially available displays.

Zhen Peng Leia, Co-Founder and CTO of Leia Inc. says: “Last year we developed a nano production process that allowed our technology to be commercialized and large-scale mass production. In the past five years, we have created a bridge to deliver high lithography to a large-scale segment, with high efficiency and competitive cost, benefiting from HP's experience and continuing in-house development. Now we will further increase that unique capacity to comply with automotive safety standards and cost competitiveness. ”

Leia's Lightfield technology has been commercially promoted in the US by AT&T and Verizon operators on smartphone screens. Consumers have already enjoyed playing games, watching movies, augmented reality, and sharing photos in unprecedented 3D quality. The Lightfield experience in the vehicles will consist of the Lightfield screen and the applications provided by Continental.

Automotive content and Lightfield SDK

The partnership between Continental and Leia will go beyond equipment. The two companies will also collaborate on content creation and developer ecosystem support. Leia now offers a creative toolkit to automatically convert or create automatic content into Lightfield format.

There are also many possible applications for the Lightfield projection of the new screen. Alerts from the driver assistant system will be displayed in 3D. Instructions from the navigation system can also be presented more clearly. The graphic view of the parking assistant - like the 360-degree bird eye view assistant - will become eye-catching in 3D. In addition, the manufacturers' logo will turn in 3D and the animations created will greet the driver.

“In this case, it is important to note that the 3D animations of our new screen do not go out of sight in the car as they do in cinemas. We are working with the graphic depth at the back. View all 3D objectszamLet i go five centimeters away. This will provide a much more comfortable environment for the eyes and will ensure that the driver is not distracted. ” In addition to all these, glasses are not required for this 3D effect. Every projection can be seen with the naked eye.

Continental will benefit from Leia's content platform LeiaLoft ™ technology and its expertise in automotive information systems and sensors as part of this collaboration. This will enable automakers and third-party developers to easily create "holographic" applications for tomorrow's car. This Automotive Software Development Kit (SDK) will allow developers to access the car's interior and exterior in full 3D, and can perform a range of applications from holographic navigation, parking assistance, or augmented reality on the digital cluster or central information display.

Pierre-Emmanuel Evreux, Founder and President of Leia Inc., says: “We are excited to adapt our Lightfield platform to the automotive industry. In addition to bringing the mobile ecosystem to vehicles to create an enhanced driver experience, we will offer premium applications using data from specific sensors (lidar, cameras). ”