Whenever we talk about cars or two-wheelers, we usually end up discussing engine performance, fuel efficiency, ride and handling and so on! When was the last time you discussed about automotive lighting while discussing cars! Let us guess, the answer is probably, never! There is so much to an automobile than what meets the eye! With rapid strides being made in engine technology, performance and other areas, we often forget that lighting too is a very, very crucial in a car or a two-wheeler.
(The tail lamps project red lines which demarcate the width of the car)Interactive lighting technologies are the next big thing in automotive world. The very fact that there is so much scope of communication with just automotive lighting just blows the mind away... For example, there are lighting technologies in development, which offer the scope for animation on the tail lamps which can display not only text but also graphics to the vehicles coming in from the rear. This can be used to communicate data about traffic, road blocks, and dangers ahead and so on!
(Notice how the individual LED lamps mask the oncoming car but illuminate the cyclist by side. This technology is already offered on the new-gen VW Touareg)The other important development in automotive lighting is the advancement of the high-beam. The new-generation Volkswagen Touraeg offers IQ LED lighting technology which which has 256 individual LED lamps in a headlamp cluster and can operate individually. This means that when the high beam is deployed in the car and there is oncoming traffic, the individual LED lamps will automatically switch off and 'mask' the oncoming cars so that it doesn't have the problem of glare.
(The new-gen Volkswagen Touareg gets the company's latest IQ lighting tech. Each headlamp gets 128 individual LEDs which perform a bunch of dynamic lighting functions)At the same time, the IQ lighting technology illuminates everything else on the road and offers optimum information to the driver. Volkswagen is also working on a very simple but crucial technology which enables the headlamps to project two parallel lines on the road in the night which is an indication of the car's width. This is extremely helpful to the driver, who can then avoid obstacles such as bumps, potholes, stray animals and other such things, with the width and the track of the car clearly demarcated. At a recently held lighting workshop, through various exhibits, Volkswagen demonstrated the unimaginable potential of lighting as not just a means of active safety systems but also communication.
