Interior lighting was a key topic on the agenda of the latest DVN Workshop, held in Munich shortly ago on 28–29 January. Presentations and exhibitions there at the Workshop demonstrated that interior lighting is now a major trend to enhance the perception and experience of (and in) car interiors.
In design work, light is often used to give luminosity, of course, but also to convey and inspire levity and wellbeing. Light reinforces lines and planes, and there are plenty of those in a car cockpit with its complex 3D shapes, expanses of inherently-boring plastic, and various functional zones the driver wants to keep visually and mentally separate. All over the interior of the car, light is part of the experience—just as it is on a theater stage, at a rock concert, in a museum, or in a restaurant. Imagine a stage with only a ghost light or two; that’s exactly where our automotive interiors were for many years: 5 or 10 or 20 watts’ worth of incandescent light, with operational options of “on” or “off”, and nothing more.
That’s not at all where we are any more. Light has rapidly become a powerful key tool in the interior developer’s toolbox, for its ability to enhance design, material surfaces, functional understanding, and the overall vehicle occupant experience.
And light is the focus of this week’s in-depth article. You’ll find news on a bunch of new technologies including curved displays, new kinds of HUDs, interior voice assistants, in-cabin monitoring, and morphable seats. And this week’s Design Lounge takes a look at the state of American luxury car interiors.
As always, we’re constantly working hard to bring you relevant news and informed views in this increasingly vital and important field of the vehicle interior. We’re glad you’re here—have you subscribed yet? If not, we enthusiastically invite you to go for it!
At your service and sincerely yours,