Representatives from Ford Motor Company, Ceres Holographics, Eastman and Carlex

Ford executive details program and process undertaken with manufacturing partners Eastman, Carlex to achieve application readiness for Ceres’ HoloFlekt® technology and HOE-laminated windshield.

Technology from Ceres Holographics, a pioneer in the design and manufacture of holographic thin films for advanced transparent displays in automotive, was featured in a presentation from Ford Motor Company at the Vehicle Display and Interface Conference last week. The event, put on by the Society of Information Display (SID)/Detroit Chapter, included a presentation by Janice Tardiff, a technical expert for Ford, entitled “Prototyping a Holographic Heads Up Display: Design, Production Trial and Performance.”

The presentation highlighted the significant technological innovation in both system design and holographic film manufactured by Ceres, the windshield integration process executed by Ford’s windshield partners, and the final display performance. The laminated windshield includes Ceres’ HoloFlekt® thin film technology, and was implemented in collaboration with partners Eastman and Carlex. The presentation discussed in some detail the development and evaluation process used by Ford to meet key manufacturing, code testing and user testing to ensure customers’ expectations for transparent heads-up display (HUD) in next generation vehicle models would be met.

In the presentation, the Ford executive made it clear that the final windshield laminates passed the necessary automotive safety related impact testing requirements, durability and optical tests, critical before adoption into vehicles can be considered by Fords vehicle program owners. In the Q&A session that followed Janice confirmed that her group’s work was complete and the Ford strategy group would now work with the vehicle program owners on inclusion in new vehicles.

Ceres’ precision digital mastering and replication technology overcomes the traditional barriers to the design and manufacture of very large-format Holographic Optical Elements (HOEs) in high volume. HOEs are key to enabling configurable high performance transparent displays for both automotive and other display applications in adjacent markets such as transportation, industrial and consumer. Seamlessly embedded into a windscreen as a thin film covering the entire windshield, each precision engineered HOE functional area is paired with a cost-effective LED-based projector and discreetly integrated in the vehicle’s instrument panel, making this innovative solution suitable for mass adoption.

HoloFlekt technology can transform any windscreen or other glass structure into an ultra-bright, full color display. In car windshields it can realize large format pillar-to-pillar HUDs where safety, operational, navigation and infotainment content can all be shown directly to the intended viewer in a clear and non-distractive manner regardless of external light conditions.

“Ford has achieved a well-deserved reputation as a technology innovator, and we are pleased with the milestone they have achieved in their testing and implementation of our holographic HUD solution as described in Janice’s presentation. Ceres has developed innovative manufacturing capabilities to enable holographic display technology that meets OEM’s requirements. In collaboration with our supply chain partners Eastman and Carlex, we are confident that the technology has achieved a state of commercial readiness that allows OEMs to offer a differentiated user experience with a primary objective of enhanced safety,” said Andy Travers, CEO of Ceres Holographics.

Janice Tardiff, a technical expert for Ford, presenting “Prototyping a Holographic Heads Up Display: Design, Production Trial and Performance.”

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