Mercedes-Benz is developing a new in-car display known for now as the holographic display, an alternative to the screens spreading across modern dashboards, according to a report in Ars Technica. The publication describes the system as effectively a more advanced form of heads-up display, or HUD, rather than the images from Star Trek and Star Wars that might come to mind.
The report frames the holographic display as a possible answer to a question facing luxury carmakers: what comes next, given that screens can only get so big.
Screens have become a marker of luxury in car interiors, the article notes, growing larger and multiplying across the dashboard. Luxury features inevitably trickle down to cheaper, more mainstream offerings.
According to Ars Technica, the display technology is known for now as the holographic display. The publication says to forget the images from Star Trek and Star Wars, describing it instead as a more advanced form of heads-up display.
The excerpt, by James Riswick, does not set out specifications, production timing or which models might receive the system.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Car interiors have been defined for more than a decade by ever larger and more numerous screens. If a luxury maker moves toward projected displays instead, it signals where premium interior design may head next.
- Features introduced in luxury cars typically reach cheaper models later, so the direction Mercedes-Benz takes is likely to matter well beyond its own showrooms.
- How drivers actually respond to projected information rather than a screen is the open question the technology will have to answer.
Background
Mercedes-Benz is a German luxury carmaker long associated with introducing new technology in its flagship models before it spreads through the industry. Heads-up displays, which project information such as speed onto the area in front of the driver so they can keep their eyes on the road, have moved from military and aviation use into everyday cars over recent decades. The article's starting point is that dashboard screens have become both a luxury signifier and a design constraint, since they can only grow so large.
What to Watch
- Whether Mercedes-Benz names production models or a timeline for the holographic display.
- Whether the technology appears first in a concept vehicle or goes straight into a road car.
- Whether rival luxury makers respond with display approaches of their own, which would indicate an industry shift rather than a single brand's experiment.
Checked
9 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 8 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedMercedes-Benz is working on a new display as an alternative to dashboard screens.Ars Technica - All content: “Mercedes-Benz is working on a new display alternative that could provide an answer.”
- SupportedThe display is known for now as the holographic display.Ars Technica - All content: “For now, it's known as the holographic display.”
- SupportedArs Technica describes the system as effectively a more advanced HUD, not the sci-fi images that might come to mind.Ars Technica - All content: “Forget the images from Star Trek and Star Wars that just popped into your head, though. It's effectively a more advanced form of heads-up display, or HUD.”
- SupportedArs Technica presents the display as a possible answer to luxury automakers' question about what comes next, given that screens can only get so big.Ars Technica - All content: “screens can only get so big. That leaves luxury automakers with another question to answer: “What’s next?” Mercedes-Benz is working on a new display alternative that could provide an answer.”
- SupportedThe article says screens have become a marker of luxury in car interiors.Ars Technica - All content: “Do screens in cars represent luxury? Judging by the latest car interiors, the answer would seem to be an emphatic “yes.””
- SupportedThe article says car screens are growing larger and multiplying across dashboards.Ars Technica - All content: “Screens aren't just getting larger; they are multiplying across the dashboard and morphing into different forms and concepts.”
- SupportedThe article says luxury features inevitably trickle down to cheaper, more mainstream offerings.Ars Technica - All content: “luxury car features inevitably trickle down to cheaper, more mainstream offerings”
- SupportedThe supplied excerpt does not set out specifications, production timing or which models might get the system.Ars Technica - All content: “It's effectively a more advanced form of heads-up display, or HUD. Read full article”
- Not in the sourcesThe excerpt is by James Riswick.Ars Technica - All content: “Beyond screens: Mercedes-Benz's new holographic heads-up display.”
