The Consumer Technology Assn. (CTA) announced the first batch of Innovation Award winners for 2023.
Among the awards this year are technologies to improve dash screens that can run the length of the dashboard, new spatial audio surround, more cameras to monitor driver behavior, new thin film car speakers, advances in lidar and radar and a new safety system from VOXX.
You can see all the winners here but we highlight a few below.
Visteon won two awards for ultra wide digital screens. The company said finding the right mix of features for the full screen dashboard is critical so as not to distract the driver. In announcing its awards, Visteon referenced JD Power’s finding that the OEM that can get the full dash screen right (balancing technology and features) will win out in sales and profits.
To achieve this, screen technology will need to progress beyond the standard touchscreen. The future screen will use additional ways of interacting through voice, spatial movements, and tactile (haptic) feedback. Visteon said the ultra wide screen must become “more intuitive.”
Visteon’s awards include:
The Visteon Lightscape Panoramic Display— a seamless pillar-to-pillar display under a continuous glass lens that works even in direct sunlight. It improves the display’s performance based on the present lighting conditions. It uses on screen haptics (that provide sensory feedback when the user touches the screen to confirm a command). The screen also uses a privacy filter to allow the passenger to view video and gaming without distracting the driver.
Visteon received a second award for its Visteon Command & Control Display. The display glass is curved to bring the central display area within touchable reach. The central 4K screen disappears into a decorative panel when not in use. It has driver-intent predictive functions and it can intelligently deliver brightness where it is needed, or save up 90 percent power when it’s not.
VOXX won an award for its H.E.L.P. (Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol) a service that warns oncoming traffic when a car is disabled on the road or roadside. It sends digital alerts to drivers through the car’s display screen and through GPS navigation apps as they approach disabled vehicles. It auto deploys in a collision or tire blow out or other event or it can be manually activated. The system is implemented by VOXX and developed by Emergency Safety Solutions, Inc. (ESS). You can see more on it here and here.
As we reported earlier, LG Display won an award for an “invisible speaker” called the Thin Actuator Sound Solution that will be commercially available in the first half of 2023. It is a thin film speaker that vibrates through use of piezoelectric technology, producing sound without the usual voice coils, cones and magnets.
See more awards here.
Another batch of award winners will be announced just before the CES show in early January.
