When it comes up in conversation that you’re professionally involved with vehicle lighting, odds are you’ve been asked whether autonomous cars won’t do away with the need for lights. Professor Khanh thinks the answer is no. Recently I had an interesting talk with him: he predicts autonomous cars in noteworthy numbers will begin to enter traffic in developed markets like the USA, Japan, and Europe within 15 years, and it’ll take two additional decades for AVs to begin to enter traffic on a truly worldwide basis. That alone means we need not just car lights but good car lights for human drivers until at least 2050!
Professor Khanh sees the need for strategic cooperation between government and industry, to effectively manage the development of an increasing menu of technologies and techniques. Moreover, longstanding basic assumptions and philosophies about how to market cars and how they’ll be used will have to change to accommodate new realities and paradigms. Read all about it in this week’s in-depth report.
Uwe Kostanzer, Mercedes, invited me to a night drive this evening.
We will drive with headlamps equipped with MMD technology which will open the door to full digital light.
I will give you soon more information of this technology and my feedback after the night drive
Sincerely yours
DVN President