BMW Press Release: BMW innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015
Intelligent Laserlight and OLED technology point the way to the future.
Munich/Las Vegas- January 2, 2015... At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from 6 to 9 January 2015, BMW presents a concept vehicle that showcases the kind of lighting innovations we can expect in the future, while at the same time reinforcing its leadership position in the field of lighting technology.
BMW Laserlight becomes intelligent thanks to connectivity.
The Laserlight technology that made its production car debut in the BMW i8sets benchmarks in terms of range and intensity. At up to 600 metres, the range of BMW laser lighting is more than twice that of conventional headlights. At the CES, BMW Laserlight now displays its credentials as an intelligent lighting system thanks to being linked up to cameras, sensors and driver assistance systems, opening up the prospect of numerous new functions in the future.
OLED technology for the rear lights opens up new possibilities.
BMW already presented tail lights featuring OLED technology with its BMW Vision Future Luxury concept unveiled in 2014. By contrast with LEDs, which are a point light source, OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) generate a uniform light across their entire surface. The elements are very thin at just 1.4 millimetres in thickness. This allows individual modules to be activated separately and opens up new possibilities for the design of rear lights. In presenting its BMW Organic Light with OLED technology in Las Vegas, BMW reveals an impressive glimpse of the potential offered by this innovative technology.
BIMMERPOST addendum on OLED lighting
In early 2014, BIMMERPOST attended a BMW lighting workshop (
read full report) where we were given the first close preview of upcoming OLED lighting technology. This is what we reported at the time:
Organic LED (OLED): This is the new cutting edge in lighting. OLEDs are made from organic semiconductor material and allow the designers much more freedom in their designs. Compared to the inorganic material already used in LEDs in standard production vehicles, the application of OLEDS in BMW Organic Light promises a range of benefits. Because of the design as a thin-layered element, for example, it is possible to produce very thin, flexible displays for smartphones or even lighting units for motor vehicles.
BMW Organic Light permits a lamp unit to be created whose luminous intensity is almost constant across the entire radiant angle (does not suffer from the LED effect where LED lamps seem less bright to the eye the more it is seen from the side).
BMW says this technology is only three years away from being used in a production car. It's clearly not far from production as they had working OLED tail light units on hand (see pics below). Not only do OLED look great but it uses very little power/energy. They can also serve as active tail lights - the intensity can change as well as the light pattern. Even different colors are possible (the mock up models that were shown to us were only in red OLEDs). We did get to see a BMW touring bike with yellow turn signals and red brake light. This OLED technology is not so close to production for motorcycles - yet. We will first see it on a BMW car before the bikes get them.
BMW is still working on improving the luminous density of the OLEDs. While it's currently adequate for tail lights, lighting elements like the brake light or indicator need reinforcing.
These lighting innovations will be featured in addition to BMW's showcasing of its 360-degree collision avoidance and fully-automated parking in multi-storey car parks technology (
more info).