Photo: BMW
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show really was huge for BMW. After introducing things like a gesture controlled infotainment system that can also be used via a tablet and a self-parking i3 (that also looks for the parking spot on its own), the company is now showing us how intelligent laser lights work.
Last year, BMW was involved in a cold war with Audi, racing to become the first manufacturer to bring a production car to the market fitted with laser headlights. If you ask me, they won with the i8 but any Audi fan will claim that the R8 LMX was the first one. Let’s not get lost in details here.
At the 2015 CES, the Munich-based giant presented yet a new step in the development of lighting. The BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights model that was brought out in Metallic Cool White offers a new take on the corona rings of Bimmers.
The blue strips inside the headlights also immediately tell you that the lamps are fitted with lasers that are now more advanced than ever. Basically, apart from the fact that they can light up the road in front of you for up to 600 meters they are now also available with Selective Beam and Dynamic Spot Light, just like on the LED headlights of today.
Thanks to the Selective Beam technology, the headlights adapt themselves to oncoming traffic, to make sure the drivers are not blinded by the light coming from a BMW fitted with laser technology. This allows the high-beam to be left on at all times.
That’s not all though. The system also works with the navigation system and can read out the road in front of you, adjusting the lights accordingly. Basically, before you even make a turn, the headlamps illuminate the corners ahead of you.
Working with the Night Vision system, the Dynamic Light Spot function will warn you of incoming pedestrians or animals from a distance of 100 meters.
Also, if the vehicle detects reduced clear road width ahead, the laser headlights can be used to provide “narrow clearance” lighting. A laser projection function indicates the exact width of the vehicle in relation to the road to allow safe passage through the narrow space.
BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights also showcases a further “visionary” system: “High Power Laser” diodes. This system projects driver information directly onto the road in front of the vehicle, allowing drivers to concentrate optimally on the traffic even in pitch darkness.
Unlike ordinary LEDs which are a point light source, OLEDs produce light uniformly over their entire surface. The elements used to make them are also very thin at just 1.4 mm and can be activated separately, allowing designers to use them to create better looking clusters.
Not only that but the design can change according to the driving mode you’re in. Whereas normally the L-shape is wide and uniformly illuminated, in Sport mode a different-shaped light pattern can be used by activating only some of the OLED segments. The rear light then appears as a narrow, focused and sharply defined “strip” of light.
At the 2015 CES, the Munich-based giant presented yet a new step in the development of lighting. The BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights model that was brought out in Metallic Cool White offers a new take on the corona rings of Bimmers.
The blue strips inside the headlights also immediately tell you that the lamps are fitted with lasers that are now more advanced than ever. Basically, apart from the fact that they can light up the road in front of you for up to 600 meters they are now also available with Selective Beam and Dynamic Spot Light, just like on the LED headlights of today.
Thanks to the Selective Beam technology, the headlights adapt themselves to oncoming traffic, to make sure the drivers are not blinded by the light coming from a BMW fitted with laser technology. This allows the high-beam to be left on at all times.
That’s not all though. The system also works with the navigation system and can read out the road in front of you, adjusting the lights accordingly. Basically, before you even make a turn, the headlamps illuminate the corners ahead of you.
Working with the Night Vision system, the Dynamic Light Spot function will warn you of incoming pedestrians or animals from a distance of 100 meters.
Also, if the vehicle detects reduced clear road width ahead, the laser headlights can be used to provide “narrow clearance” lighting. A laser projection function indicates the exact width of the vehicle in relation to the road to allow safe passage through the narrow space.
BMW M4 Concept Iconic Lights also showcases a further “visionary” system: “High Power Laser” diodes. This system projects driver information directly onto the road in front of the vehicle, allowing drivers to concentrate optimally on the traffic even in pitch darkness.
OLED technology for the taillights
As we’ve been saying for quite some time now, the future in lighting belongs to OLED technology or Organic LEDs as some call it. The M4 Concept Iconic Lights is the second concept from BMW to showcase the possibilities of using this kind of tech, after the Vision Future Luxury model.Unlike ordinary LEDs which are a point light source, OLEDs produce light uniformly over their entire surface. The elements used to make them are also very thin at just 1.4 mm and can be activated separately, allowing designers to use them to create better looking clusters.
Not only that but the design can change according to the driving mode you’re in. Whereas normally the L-shape is wide and uniformly illuminated, in Sport mode a different-shaped light pattern can be used by activating only some of the OLED segments. The rear light then appears as a narrow, focused and sharply defined “strip” of light.
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