In 1921 the first electric lights were fitted to a car and it was not until 1973 that the next breakthrough in lighting came in the form of a twin headlight. In 2008, xenon headlights were born and, since then, every two years there has been a breakthrough in car lights thanks to the irruption of electronics.
Now there are cars with LED, Full LED, laser, matrix headlights, OLED… and what remains to come, as we have seen first-hand in Ingolstadt. At the headquarters, the brand with the four rings has told us how they work and how they are going to work and with a host of the stature of César Muntada, the head of design and lighting of the German brand.
Video: we speak with César Muntada, Head of Lighting at Audi
Twelve people work in his team, on short and medium-term projects with safety as the first reason. A factor that is not always given as much weight as it should be, because many times there is a temptation to talk more about design than about the best safety involved in driving at night with better lighting. Or that the car is seen by other drivers and pedestrians.
Safety, therefore, is the primary motivation for work and is reflected, for example, in the three new functions that are now being released by the digital Matrix LED lights of the Audi A8, the flagship of the German brand that has just been renovated.
The Audi A8 debuts three new lighting functions
The first of these is the orientation of the lights, so that, for example, if we cross a road under construction with different lanes, the light is focused only on the lane in which we must travel. This functionality is now possible thanks to digital technology.
The second new possibility of the Digital Matrix LEDs is the projection of visual signals on the road, for example arrows in the lane in which we must circulate or lateral projections when we connect the indicators.
This not only helps to improve the visibility of the driver, but also of other road users who can see our movements in advance. Even pedestrians, who can anticipate our reactions to the wheel in low light situations
Thirdly, the Audi A8 now launches a function that projects a warning sign (triangle with an exclamation point) on the road to warn the driver of a danger in the form, for example, of a car breakdown. So we can keep looking at the road and be warned, so that the reaction time is shortened.
OLED technology for taillights, a world to explore
Although safety prevails, I must admit that this desire to look at design is logical when you know, for example, the configuration possibilities of the taillights with OLED technology. This organic LED light system (hence the acronym OLED) made its debut in 2016 in the Audi TTRS and four years later is used in all Audi Q5s.
It works with semiconductors and components that are 80 times smaller than a human hair, based on triangles of mirrors that allow all imaginable configurations. For now, in the new Audi A8 you can select from the multifunction screen to three different designs, to personalize the taillights like never before.
In addition, the possibilities of OLED lights are so many that we have only seen the beginning and, for example, in the Audi A6 e-tron prototype you can select a mode in which the light is dynamic all the time and covers the entire rear band. . This, for now, is not legal and as César Muntada told us, the limits to lighting systems are more legal than technical.
In fact, one of the priorities of his team at Audi is to be up-to-date in terms of legislation, because in addition, according to the countries, the regulations are different. For example, the regulations in China are more lax than in Europe.
Because even Audi is advancing in unexplored areas such as gamification and already has prototypes that project a video game on a wall that is controlled with the familiar command of a console. For example, it can be used while recharging the battery…
I have been able to test it first-hand in Ingolstadt and it opens up a world of possibilities not seen until now, because thanks to the lighting systems it is possible to interact with the user like never before. The only limit is the law.
