The 2016 VISION Congres last week was a grand success with almost 600 attendees—a 70% increase over four years’ time. And it’s not an anomaly, either; ISAL 2015’s attendance was up 33% over 2013, and DVN Workshops have been attracting about twice as much attendance recently versus five years ago. That’s some fast, big progress, and it underlines the hotter and hotter interest shown for vehicle lighting.
This increasing eagerness to talk and listen on the subject tracks with great progress in lighting performance, functionality, design, and style with LEDs, OLEDs, lasers, and ADB. It also reflects the challenges posed by things like the world’s various regulatory situations, approaches, and attitudes; the arrival of autonomous cars, and the opportunity to devise new lighting functions for communications with pedestrians, infrastructure, and other cars.
So, what must we do now? Surely we have to continue the wonderful work on LED, laser, OLED, ADB, and the constellation of related technologies and techniques, and now also other fun actions in link with the evolution of autonomous driving functions. Probably the primary main challenge in front of us is to increase the effectiveness of our communication with the public, the press, and the regulatory community. Old attitudes and perceptions are persistent; we’re not yet done convincing the world at large about the important and real benefits and advantages brought by new car lights.
Sincerely yours
DVN President