How does HD-quality light sound to you?
What the Germans call Digital Light might offer another solution to making cars and roads safer during night-time journeys.
While Audi and BMW have already tested the waters with laser headlights, Mercedes-Benz thinks the future of car light lies with HD dazzle-free main beam.
The new headlight concept uses chips working in concert with one million micromirrors (that's two million per car) that adapt according to surrounding world data (other vehicles, pedestrians) collected by the car's radar sensors and cameras. As a result, the light beam is cut into tiny pixels.
Potentially even more valuable, the system can assist the driver in tricky situations, like driving through narrow roadworks. Furthermore, the headlights can cast light shapes on the road ahead, thus replacing missing or washed off road markings.
If needed, a future application for the Digital Light tech can even work together with the car's navigation system and project arrows, traffic signs and various warnings on the road.
Additionally, the headlights could even use light to pitch a zebra crossing on the road, aiding pedestrians in the process.
The technology was present in the F 015 research vehicle but will suffer mods and find its way into road-going demo cars in the near future.