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Tech Giant Invents System to Adjust Car Ambient Lights When You’re Angry

Interior lighting plays a much more important role in a car than just looking good, and Huawei believes it can also improve the driver’s well-being.
Chevy Camaro interior lights settings 6 photos
Photo: Chevrolet
SERES SF5 Huawei Smart SelectionSERES SF5 Huawei Smart SelectionSERES SF5 Huawei Smart SelectionSERES SF5 Huawei Smart SelectionSERES SF5 Huawei Smart Selection
The Chinese tech firm has recently developed a system that can automatically adjust the interior lights in a car based on the driver’s heart-rate readings.

The company conducted research to determine how the interior light configuration and colors could improve the mood and positively impact the overall physical and emotional health of the driver.

As such, Huawei explains in a recent patent that it’s all connected to the driver’s heart rate. The new technology, called “ambient lighting control method, device, equipment, storage, and vehicle,” is supposed to monitor the driver for signs of stress. If you’re angry, for instance, the device would use an ultra-bandwidth radio frequency signal to measure changes in heart rate readings. Based on the results, it can adjust the interior lights accordingly.

Sure enough, Huawei can put together simpler implementations to adjust the interior lights based on health sensor readings.

Using its smartwatches and a wireless connection to the vehicle, Huawei would eventually be able to obtain such data more conveniently. Smartwatches can monitor not only the heart rate, but also the stress levels, so the car would be provided with valuable driver health information. Eventually, based on this information, the ambient lights can be automatically adjusted to improve the driver’s well-being.

Huawei is a company whose automotive ambitions currently come down to partnerships with Chinese firms. Back in mid-2019, Huawei was banned by the United States government from working with American companies and using their software and hardware.

The sanctions produced a major impact on its international operations. Huawei dropped Android for an in-house mobile operating system, and its businesses focused mostly on the domestic market. In the automotive market, Huawei is in charge of powering the smart experience in several Chinese models with its operating system called HarmonyOS.

At one point, it was believed that Huawei also planned to follow in the footsteps of Apple and build its own car from scratch. Unlike Apple, however, Huawei seems to invest in collaborations with traditional carmakers. The most recent such partnership involves SERES, a company whose latest models are running on Huawei software.

For the time being, the intelligent lighting adjusting system is still in the patent stage. But given Huawei’s aggressive investments in the automotive market, it’s probably just a matter of time until models powered by HarmonyOS get such capabilities.

In the meantime, rival Apple is working around the clock on finalizing its vehicle. The Apple Car is expected to hit the streets in 2025, with an official announcement likely this or the next year. The Apple Car is expected to launch with a conventional design at first, with full self-driving capabilities due later this decade.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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