Recently, Hyundai Mobis and Zeiss, a German optical company, announced that they will cooperate to develop a revolutionary technology - windshield holographic display (holographic HUD). It is reported that this innovative technology can transform the entire front windshield of the car into a holographic transparent display, so that the driver can see the driving information and enjoy infotainment functions such as music, video and games without having to look down or shift his gaze significantly.
Replace the digital instrument cluster and the large central control screen
In today's automobile market,"Big color TV"The wind is blowing more and more fiercely,"Screen war" is intensifying,Configure one or more large screens,Even the through-type large screen that runs through the entire driver's platform has become one of the focuses of intelligent cockpit competition。 However, while these huge screens enhance the sense of technology, they also bring a lot of problems. For example, drivers often need to look away when viewing this information, which undoubtedly increases the safety hazards during driving.
"Compared with the existing display display, which can only display relatively simple information such as driving speed, navigation path, and speeding alert, the holographic HUD can allow the driver to see more information, and can provide a full perspective and immersive experience, which can help improve the safety and convenience of driving." Liang Xiaolei, a researcher at the New Energy Application Technology Research Center of the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute, told the China Automotive News that for the driver, he can observe the road conditions and display content at the same time without adjusting the perspective, and various safety tips on the dashboard can be integrated into the front windshield, which can effectively improve driving safety. For passengers, the desired entertainment functions and content can be projected directly in front of the view, without compromising their enjoyment of the scenery outside the vehicle. In addition, if the front windshield is "transformed" into a holographic HUD, multiple large displays on the dashboard or center console can be eliminated, and there is more room for the interior design of the car.
"Although we do not yet know the details of the research and development of the relevant companies, from the perspective of general technical principles, ordinary front windshields cannot achieve holographic display." Wei Dong, an engineer at the Microelectronics Technology Laboratory of Xi'an University of Technology, said in an interview with a reporter from China Automotive News that the front windshield as a holographic HUD must at least be coated and transformed, and this ultra-thin film with extremely high light transmittance and almost imperceptible is actually a display screen, with a thickness of only about 100 microns, roughly equivalent to the diameter of a human hair. On the other hand, to achieve holographic display, multiple miniature projectors need to be installed in the cockpit and combined to project visual information. It is worth mentioning that the information displayed by the holographic HUD has a certain sense of suspension on the screen, which does not affect the driver's observation of the road ahead through the front windshield at all.
According to public information, Hyundai Mobis will be responsible for the development and supply of automotive projectors for infotainment systems, while Zeiss will develop and supply ultra-thin films for projectors. "This will greatly change the existing intelligent cockpit information display system, and is expected to become the standard configuration of intelligent cockpit in the future." Yu Rongjin, a researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, said.
Vehicle-mounted HUD has become a new blue ocean market
In the past, if a driver needed to answer a call in the car, most of the time they had to stop the car and then answer it through their mobile phone or Bluetooth headset. Once you have a holographic HUD, you can visualize the joys and sorrows of the other party on the video call on the front windshield of the vehicle without affecting the observation of road conditions and continuing to drive. "The purpose of the evolution of cockpit information display technology is to achieve better information interaction, and the epoch-making advanced information display method of holographic HUD will make better interaction and emotional communication a reality, so it has broad market prospects." Yu Rongjin said.
Wei Dong also believes that the holographic HUD display is expected to be combined with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which can not only provide more intelligent, emotional, personalized interaction for the driver and passengers in the car to connect with the outside world, as well as more colorful entertainment information, but also through the information display, to achieve more intelligent assisted driving functions, and further improve the driving experience. In addition, in the context of rapid technological evolution, the accelerated integration of holographic HUD technology with autonomous driving, Internet of Vehicles and other technologies can effectively promote the development of intelligent transportation, so that vehicles and the surrounding environment can achieve intelligent interaction, so as to make driving safer and more interesting.
Recently, BMW announced that its next-generation head-up display will be unveiled alongside the "new generation" of electric models, which can project information onto the entire front windshield. As a major attraction of the evolution of smart cars, the front windshield is becoming a new direction for on-board displays.
"The industry is moving towards the technical route of front windshield 'large screen' and holographic HUD, mainly because it has more advantages." Yu Rongjin said that as one of the representatives of the new generation of HUD, the advantage of the front windshield holographic HUD is that it does not block the vision of the driver and passengers, has a full sense of openness, and also increases the sense of technology and luxury of the vehicle. Especially in the trend of young mainstream automobile consumer groups pursuing a sense of science and technology, personalization and intelligence, holographic HUD reflects strong competitiveness and is also one of the directions of differentiated competition of automotive products.
According to OMDIA Research, a global market research firm, the global holographic HUD market demand is expected to grow to about 7 million units by 2030. "The holographic HUD will have a profound impact on the automotive industry, the entire travel industry, and smart transportation." Liang Xiaolei emphasized that with the popularization of smart cars, holographic HUD, as a more friendly human-computer interaction interface, can be better integrated into the intelligent system of the vehicle, provide diversified functions, and be more in line with the aesthetics and needs of young mainstream automobile consumer groups. In the future, with the development of artificial intelligence technology, the holographic HUD system can even analyze the driver's behavior and preferences, so as to automatically adjust the screen display content and layout as needed, and better play the role of "intelligent assistant".
Difficult to develop Mass production will take several years
It is reported that Hyundai Mobis and Zeiss have completed the prototype of the front windshield holographic display and demonstrated it to vehicle customers. As for the specific mass production time, Hyundai Mobis said that the information system and projection part may be mass-produced as early as 2027, while Zeiss said that the display film part is planned to be realized within five years.
"The prototype is not equal to the mass production product, and there is still a considerable distance between the mature product, and the reason why the mass production plan of the two companies took several years is because the application of the holographic HUD to the front windshield faces a series of technical and cost challenges." Wei Dong explained that the information displayed by the holographic HUD is different from the plane graphics of the existing vehicle large screen, but has a certain three-dimensional sense, which requires more complex three-dimensional display technology support. Moreover, the front windshield is not actually a flat surface, but a curved surface that is not very regular, and the curvature of the front windshield varies from model to model. In this case, in order to maintain the original proportions of the displayed information and images, it is necessary to have an automatic adjustment function for the projection equipment. In addition, in order for the driver in the front seat and the passenger in the rear seat to see holograms without "ghosting", it is necessary to work on both the projection equipment and the new technology on the display film. None of this can be achieved overnight, and requires a lot of R&D, design, testing, correction, and optimization. In addition, the design of mass production schemes, customized mass production equipment and testing equipment not only requires the cooperation of various technologies, but also takes a certain amount of time and cost.
"Maintaining the stability of the projection equipment in the relatively small space of the cockpit is also a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently." Yu Rongjin believes that in terms of stability, anti-interference, high and low temperature resistance and anti-shake and other characteristics, the vehicle holographic HUD is very different from home projection equipment. Home projectors are generally fixed in one position, and the car will inevitably bump in a variety of road conditions, at this time, it is necessary to ensure that the image displayed by the holographic HUD is clear, stable, and not shaking, which requires technical research.
Wei Dong said that up to now, holographic HUD technology is still in the development stage, and many technical details are difficult to develop and the cost of research and development is high, so there are not many manufacturers who have really announced that they want to do holographic HUD. Even supply chain giants like Hyundai Mobis have to join forces with optical giants like Zeiss to "huddle" for technological research. At the same time, holographic HUD technology requires high-precision optical design and manufacturing processes, and both R&D costs and initial mass production costs will be high, and the popularization of affordable models will only be possible after the cost has dropped significantly.
At present, there is still a common technical problem with holographic HUD devices, that is, because the image displayed by the holographic HUD and the road are not in the same plane, although the driver does not have to look down, the human eye needs to switch back and forth between the road and the display screen to adjust the focus of the eyes, but frequent adjustment of the focus will also lead to visual fatigue.
"Just as automobiles move from the era of internal combustion engines to the era of electrification and intelligence, these technical problems should also be solved with the development of automotive technology." Liang Xiaolei believes that the reason why holographic HUD can be valued by enterprises and invest huge sums of money in research and development is precisely because it can improve safety, improve driving experience, and have broad application prospects, so as to bring greater application space for the intelligence and personalization of automobiles, and bring better travel experience to drivers and passengers.
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