For the vocal contingent who hate that modern vehicle interiors are full of screens, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that Nissan design chief Alfonso Albaisa told Motor Authority at the 2024 New York Auto Show that the future isn’t about more screens, not even screens.
The bad news is that the executive said that eventually “the windshield will be your screen”.
Almost every automaker is working hard to put as many screens on the dashboard and inside the vehicle as possible. It’s all in the name of content. Albaisa said that “people demand content and the screen is the only window”.
Albaisa said people’s desire for content will not change. “What’s going to change is that you don’t need a screen.”
In the future, the entire windshield will be your screen, according to Albaisa. Eventually we will be able to laminate the transparent screen made from a thin LED panel directly onto the glass. The driver will still be able to see through the windshield and everyone will still be able to consume its contents.
While consumers may claim they want to return to analog elements, the reality is that Albaisa isn’t sure how to separate consumers from their content.t. According to Albaisa, automakers now compete with Apple and Google’s connected services platforms, as well as the delivery of content provided by automotive infotainment software. The desire to create your own interfaces exists, but it’s time to just accept realityyou. “We can’t compete,” said Albaisa.
Apple, Google and other platforms can offer consumers an experience that automakers cannot, Albaisa admitted.
Apple Augmented Reality Windshield Patent Image
Apple investigated an augmented reality windshield before canceling your electric car project. Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, presented its “Window to the World” Concept in 2011, which apparently predicted Albaisa’s future paintings. Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class Concept and the Volkswagen ID.GTI concept featured windshields with augmented reality embedded in the glass in 2023.
With current technology, we are in an in-between moment, where the screen is still a necessary evil. Albaisa predicts it will take about a decade before the screens disappear from the dashboard and everything is just lamented on the windshield.
One challenge is brightness, according to Albaisa. An industry insider who wished to remain anonymous due to involvement with car manufacturers told MA that the two biggest hurdles today are cost efficiency and safety. “The windshield is a structural part of today’s vehicles, and a built-in display would need to pass any of the current safety and crash standards,” the person said. Albaisa noted that some transparent display technology that could be incorporated into windshields has already been shown at CES.
“God bless them, (the technology) can be released sooner,” Albaisa said. He noted that designers and engineers are watching the technology evolve closely, as screens are “a little heavy but look easy, but no one likes them.”
Alabaisa sees screens as a wall between the car’s occupant, be it driver or passenger, and the outside. A clear windshield with technology integrated directly into the glass will eliminate this barrier.
The biggest challenge with current screens is how to integrate them. According to Albaisa, this will no longer be a problem in the not too distant future.