In the U.S traffic-related fatality happens three times more at night than during the day according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Bad light environment often causes accidents. Mercedes is planning to equip its new S-class cars later this year with the smart headlight that could project driver-assist information.
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Despite the underwhelming name of the system “Digital Light,” Mercedes-Benz proves it is ahead of the game with the system in road safety. The light can not only adjust to different road situation intelligently but also display information to the driver without distracting the person.
The light moved on from its multi-beam LED predecessor. A computer system would control over one million micromirrors for each light. This allows the headlight to project graphics and information with 2 million pixels. The system would receive information from the car’s sensors and adjust the position, brightness, and information projected by the light with precision.
In an urban environment, when the sensor detects a pedestrian is close to the car, the headlight will indicate the position of the person, and adjust its position, illuminating only the body of the pedestrian.
When driving through a narrow lane, it will indicate the width of the car. The driver could also adjust the system to have the headlight mark out the safe distance according to the speed at real-time. The light can also indicate traffic information through the map system.
Even though this technology is only available to the S-class Mercedes, it is likely to be adopted by more car manufacturers if it proves to warrant better road safety soon.
