Continental to showcase intelligent car windows at CES 2016

Continental has developed a new technology that can darken car windows at the touch of a button. This new technology called ‘Intelligent Glass Control’ will be showcased in a demo vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show 2016.

Intelligent Glass Control uses special films which are inserted into the glass and which change their transparency through electric control signals. This production-ready film technology is based on embedded particles that arrange themselves randomly when unpowered and darken the window from outside, while retaining transparency from the inside to the outside. If voltage is applied, the particles systematically align themselves parallelly, so that the window becomes permeable to light in both directions.

Additionally, solar radiation can be reduced more effectively by using these films. Andreas Wolf, head of Continental’s Body & Security business unit explains, “This means that we can keep the heat out of the vehicle and significantly reduce the interior temperature." This also makes it easy on the air-conditioning unit. In addition to the reduced heat in the cabin, the darkening also effectively enhances privacy.

Wolf added that the selective, incremental darkening of the side and rear windows, as well as parts of the windshield also makes driving safer. A typical example is a low sun on the horizon. The driver's hand instinctively goes from the steering wheel to the sun visor. “This results in both impaired visibility and a brief decrease in control of the vehicle," said Wolf.  In the future such situations can be detected in advance, and the windows could darken automatically before the event even occurs.

Engineers at Continental will demonstrate the intelligent activation of what it calls ‘Suspended Particle Device’ film technology for side and rear windows and the windshield for the first time in a test vehicle. While auto-tinting films which can be used for targeted darkening of the window have been available for a long time already, this technology has only been feasible in the roof area for a small number of high-end cars.

The available film still has a slightly blue shimmer, but Continental is expecting a broader range of colours in the future, thus opening up additional design possibilities.