For the 2020 model year, the standard for motorcycle interfaces will be rich-color TFT dashes, and this is not a new trend.
Sure, there will be a few “heritage” models that will employ analog gauges, but gone are the days of LCD dashes that share more with a Timex timepiece than the smartphone that is in every rider’s pocket.
I have no doubt that a few brands will still fail to get this memo, as there seems to be just about every year, but that number is shrinking rapidly. The motorcycle industry is slowly getting hip to this 21st century thing.
But now, we get word that some seemingly 22nd century tech is on its way, as German automotive parts supplier Bosch is touting the arrival of 3D dashboards for motor vehicles.
The first to make a digital gauge for the automotive world (working on the 1994 Audi Quattro), Bosch is experimenting with dash units that bring depth-of-field messages into the transportation realm.
Displaying information in 3D has several obvious and intuitive uses, like on a car when parking the rear-view camera image will seem more realistic, and drivers can get an even better idea of how much space they have behind them.
Bosch says that its research shows that motorists process information more quickly when it is presented in three dimensions as well. The real interesting part though is that Bosch plans on building a passive 3D system to display some warnings and information in this format, without the use of special glasses or eye tracking.
“The display’s depth of field means drivers can grasp important visual information faster, whether from an assistance system or a traffic-jam alert,” said Dr. Steffen Berns, President of Bosch Car Multimedia. “Alerts that seem to jump out of the display are much more obvious and urgent.”
The technology is surely going to debut in the four-wheeled world before we see it on motorcycles, but it is still interesting to see what is coming down the pipe in terms of innovation.
Comments