Head-up display has been around for decades and while seemingly rare, its adoption has seen more widespread adoption than you may have thought. But I think none will come close to what the new BMW head-up display called BMW Panoramic Vision has to offer.
With this new head-up display tech, the drivers can decide which information they want to display within their field of vision if all occupants can see the entire content.
The German automaker has revealed that its head-up display technology will go into production in 2025 with the first NEUE KLASSE models.
NEUE KLASSE, whose name refers to the company’s pioneering models of the 1960s, is a new technological platform that “will set new standards in digitalization, sustainability, and design for electric vehicles.”
Unlike traditional HUD, BMW Panoramic Vision takes over the entire width of the windscreen, and also unlike the HUD you know, it is not images projected on a clear windscreen:
“For the first time the innovative projection technology allows visible displays across the entire width of the windscreen for all passengers. BMW Panoramic Vision shows information that is relevant for the driver and passengers with a higher light intensity and contrast onto a dark-coated area at the lower edge of the windscreen. This creates an extremely sharp image that is always visible across the full width of the windscreen. Information relevant to the driving situation is always available in the right place at the right time.”
That’s right. This technology calls for a black bar across the lower edge of the windscreen which is not quite the traditional HUD we perceived.
However, in the video presentation by Frank Weber, a Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development, we noticed that this HUD tech does project beyond this black bar on the driver’s side.
Perhaps this is what it means when it says the display can be for the driver’s eyes only or for the entire occupants of the automobile.
All images courtesy of BMW.
