Osram LEDs offer safety, customization

LED lighting offers a new way to communicate with passengers and pedestrians in and around vehicles.

The Osire Intelligent Platform is one of the latest innovations from Germany's Osram Opto Semiconductors, a global leader in automotive lighting technology. Osire offers customizable lighting experiences that can be used to promote safety and wellness for passengers and pedestrians.

"There is potential for a lot of opportunity with this device," Osram director Michael Godwin said.

In a demo for Shift, Osram showed how LED lighting can send messages to pedestrians or welcome passengers into the vehicle. In the demo, the LED lights were embedded in a door panel, which displays words or names. This technology could be used for transportation networks such as Uber or Lyft.

Osram is also exploring the benefits of using LED lighting for driver monitoring.

This builds off the technology first developed by Osram in a partnership with Joyson Safety Systems that uses infrared lighting to monitor the alertness of drivers of semiautonomous cars.

Osram says Osire can provide a fast warning about the driver's cognitive state, enabling the driver to respond quickly.

Interior ambient lighting is another potential application. For instance, passengers could customize their LED experience by allowing the lights to adjust according to their mood or even to the music playing.

"LEDS are ideal because they can efficiently mimic sunlight and create vibrant colors to improve overall health and productivity," Osram spokeswoman Sarah Carlson said.

Beyond today's cars, Osram envisions using Osire technology to create more personalized, "human-centric" interiors for automated vehicles. "With the advent of autonomous driving, the interiors of vehicles will be more than simply a cabin; they will be true living spaces in which we will work, play and relax," Osram said in a January release.

The company says LEDs can warn passengers in an autonomous car that the vehicle is about to make a turn or hit the brakes. The company demonstrated the concept using an LED lightboard that displays messages and signals.

Outside the vehicle, the LEDs can alert pedestrians when a vehicle is in an autonomous mode by lighting up the exterior of the car in a universal color that indicates self-driving.

"We see the future," Godwin said.