Modern day cars have a lot of technology compared to what we saw even a decade ago. Cars are now connected to the internet, can drive by themself and even respond via apps. However, a big part of a car is often neglected, and that is the glass section. On average any given car has almost 5 square meters of glass section all around which is twice compared to what it was nearly 30 years ago. This is where Continental is stepping in to revolutionize the functionality of glass used in a car.
With Intelligent Glass Control, Continental reveals that a glass section can be dimmed at night or tinted in the sun. Windows behind the B-pillar where the owner is seated can also be tinted for privacy in the rear seats all on demand. Windows can also be heated making no use of wires and also make the glass section used as a reflective display section. This will make windows and glass areas which are currently not much in use; very, very functional. All these functions can be integrated to the cars infotainment user interface making it easier to use.
Continental Intelligent Glass control will make use of specially developed films that will be used on the glass area. This will change the translucency of the glass based on the electric control signals which a user provides. For now, these functions might have some amount of time lag after a command is given, and also the visual quality might not be great. Liquid Crystal glass technology will be of greater quality in the switchable glass cars.
With Liquid Crystal, the transparency or opacity on a glass window can be changed within milliseconds. This can be made available in different colours as well. Liquid Crystal window molds have tiny paint particles placed between two glass panes as a fine film under a special suspension system. This allows the window to be dimmed or lightened. This function of tinting the window makes use of the cars on-board power supply, cloud connection and more. If this comes in effect for the front windscreen as well, then mechanical sun visors will become redundant.
With Intelligent Glass Control, one can also defrost car windows during winters. A host of driver assistance and infotainment data can also be shown on the smart windscreens with Intelligent Glass Control. With touchscreen elements, smart displays can also be used to make better use of adaptive camera systems.
In the future, glass sections of the car combined with liquid crystals, nano particles and connected technology will revolutionize the way we make use of them.
