Invisible Helpers – Infrared Light For The Veinvisible Helpers – Infrared Light For The Vehicle Interior Of The Futurehicle

The car as a simple means of transportation is becoming a thing of the past. Instead, the car of tomorrow will be a mobile extension of our living space, with Infrared light applications taking center stage.

Lounge feeling in the interior. From mood lighting to how you interact with the vehicle, it is becoming increasingly comfortable, cozy and safer in the car.

Smart door opener

Thanks to an application that became well known in the world of smartphones and tablets, in future opening the door will become virtually automatic. With the help of biometric identification, even from a few meters away the vehicle’s 3D facial recognition systems will recognize when the driver approaches and can, for example, open the trunk or unlock the driver’s door.
Once the user is identified, several other personalized settings can be activated – from the desired seating position and preferred light colors to the automatic playback of music by a favorite artist.

The driver stays in focus

Driver assistance systems are enjoying increasing attention, especially safety systems such as driver monitoring.

VIDEO: ams OSRAM In-Cabin Sensing

View of the back seat

In addition to monitoring the driver, infrared light helps to determine the current seating position of the vehicle occupants and to ensure that nothing is accidentally left in the vehicle. The so-called in-cabin monitoring system detects whether you have forgotten your bag in the back seat of a rental car, for example, and alerts you in good time via a short message on your smartphone. This is made possible by a sophisticated 3D time-of-flight (ToF) application.

In-cabin monitoring applications usually consist of a PMD (photonic mixer device) camera, a VCSEL as an infrared light source, and a special detector. Together with the information provided by further apertures, a high-resolution 3D image with corresponding depth information can be generated. Downstream software uses these to determine which object is involved.

Touchless control

With the help of infrared light, commands can be captured by hand movements and gestures. Infrared LEDs and VCSELs have their advantages depending on the final product. These become particularly clear when looking at applications for gesture control. Simpler systems usually use discrete components such as a separate emitter and detector. With their help, even simple gestures and movements can be recognized.

Gesture control is one of several building blocks for intuitive interaction between driver and vehicle.

The special properties of the VCSEL, such as the extremely fast switching times of up to 100 14, MHz, enable 3D iToF-based products that can also recognize and process significantly more complex movements and gestures of the driver in three dimensions.

Both more convenience and security

(Summarized by Firat Sarialtun is Segment Manager for Automotive In-Cabin Sensing at ams OSRAM, responsible for optical IR Illumination portfolio based on IRED and VCSEL technologies.)