The 2021 Mercedes S-Class is set to come out with some stunning new features--this car is decked out to say the least. The entire cabin is reimagined with a sleek, futuristic look, including customizable LEDs, one of the largest touch screen display units in the industry, and 5 other screens throughout the cabin. From the previous generation Mercedes ditched 27 mechanical buttons and switches. But, the focal point of the 2021 S-Class is the new augmented reality heads up display (AR - HUD).
The Augmented Reality Heads Up Display is a technology that projects a holographic image onto the vehicle’s windshield, in the driver’s line of sight. It's just as much a safety feature as an informational tool. It provides crucial information to the driver without requiring them to take their eyes off the road.
The global automotive HUD market is projected to reach $3.9B USD by 2027 from $1B USD in 2022. The market is driven by increased customer awareness about vehicle and road safety, demand for improved driver experience in vehicles, and significant growth in the luxury and high-end cars segments, mainly in the emerging markets.
This new augmented reality HUD display on the car’s windshield uses a Texas Instruments digital mirror sporting a resolution of 1.3 megapixels. This 2021 Mercedes is scrapping hardware button controls in lieu of completely voice, touch, and motion activated controls. The AR experience projects onto a 10° horizontal, 5° vertical aperture heads up display. The image projected for the driver of the S-Class is equivalent to a 77-inch monitor, or appears 33 feet away, according to Mercedes.
Integrated with eye-tracking technology through a stereo camera system in the display; the AR heads up display will show things like speed, distance to destination, and directions in your eye-line as you drive. Along with the HUD, an advanced voice assistant can tell what seat each voice is coming from because of the ample numbers of microphones in the interior. The voice assistant combined with the augmented reality technology could be the most important car interior update Mercedes--or really any automotive manufacturer--has developed in years.
You can check out a brief video above or from Daimler’s Twitter Account to get a feel for what is coming in the AR / Mixed Reality era that the world is diving head first into. Mercedes is ahead of the curve with this cool augmented reality application that will become standard in automobiles by the end of this decade. Stay up to date from the market mavens, goHere for AR news and other insights.