Continental has launched its volume-production version of a 3D driver instrument cluster which is scheduled to make its debut with the upcoming Genesis GV80 from the Hyundai Motor Company. The display is the first of its kind as it can display 3D images without the need for specialised 3D glasses. The system uses camera technology to monitor a driver’s line of sight and help display three-dimensional scales, pointers and objects.
The system, for example, can display a stop sign warning in the driver’s line of sight in 3D. This is done with what Continental is calling autostereoscopic 3D technology. How this works is Continental is using parallax barriers. Parallax is an effect where the background is moved at a different speed than the foreground. These are essentially two slanted slats that divide the image for the viewer. Here, the same image is displayed twice, slightly offset from one another. These slightly offset views reach the right and left eye that results in an image to the human eye as a three-dimensional image.
Continental’s in-car camera detects the driver’s line of sight and is able to adjust the 3D view to the driver’s precise head position. In order not distract the driver with the 3D screen for too long, the camera employs attention detection to identify potential moments of driver distraction or fatigue. With this new technology, only the relevant information is displayed to the driver so as to not overload the vision with information like advanced driver assistance systems, conventional displays, communication services and infotainment applications.
Dr Frank Rabe, head of the Human Machine Interface business unit at Continental said “With our volume-production display featuring autostereoscopic 3D technology, we are raising human-machine interaction to a whole new level and laying the foundations for intuitive communication in the connected cockpit of tomorrow. To ensure that this gain in safety and comfort does not come at the expense of a lean electronics architecture, we integrated various displays in the centre console or dashboard into our Cross-Domain Hub.”
With Continental’s Cross-Domain Hub, cars in the near future would move away from numerous individual control units to a few high-performance computers. Only a small number of control units will be required for all the in-vehicle input and output devices, thus, it would reduce complexity and also save weight and space. The next generation of display systems from Continental will feature single cross-domain unit. This would allow a driver to distribute content like navigation across multiple displays and arranging exactly where they wish to place them.
Additionally, Continental believes that in the future, we can watch 3D movies in our vehicles as well. To allow passengers in the rear to enjoy a 3D experience, Continental is currently developing a new 3D display based on the natural 3D Lightfield Technology, a more sophisticated system does not even require the parallax barriers or the in-car camera. Continental hopes to make this a reality and is planning on putting it into production by 2022.
