Continental will present a display novelty at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (January 7–10, 2025) that recently won a CES Innovation Award Honoree: the Invisible Biometrics Sensing Display tracks the vital parameters of persons inside the vehicle using a camera and a laser projector installed behind the dashboard display to support a wide range of safety and comfort functions. The technology detects the passengers inside the car through a high-resolution OLED screen, meaning it is completely invisible to the naked eye.
The innovative display offers a lot of other advantages: For example, it features 3D distance mapping to optimize the deployment of airbags and other restraint devices and check the correct fastening of seat belts. In addition, the Invisible Biometrics Sensing Display, which was developed together with trinamiX, a leading provider of biometric solutions, enables contactless monitoring of vital parameters such as heart rate to identify stressful situations or an impending medical emergency in the driver’s seat. A corresponding safety feature installed in the vehicle can be triggered if needed to protect the occupants as well as other road users.
“Our expertise allows us to seamlessly integrate pioneering technologies into our display solutions and thus enhance the range of functions offered and create added value,” says Pavel Prouza, head of the User Experience (UX) business area at Continental.
CES Award for invisible integration of sensor systems for driver monitoring
In the run-up to the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s preeminent technology trade show held every January in Las Vegas, Continental has received the CES Innovation Award Honoree in the “Vehicle Tech and Advanced Mobility” category for its intelligent display solution. “The award underlines our extensive technical expertise in user experience. By installing the camera and laser dot projector invisibly behind the display, we will unlock completely new creative possibilities for designers of car interiors and boost acceptance among users,” continues Prouza. The Invisible Biometrics Sensing Display captures a number of key data points that are relevant for interpreting driver monitoring systems. It therefore provides an innovative all-in-one solution that is invisible to the naked eye.
Monitoring of vital parameters using biometric imaging
A 1.5 MP near infrared camera and an eye-safe laser dot projector are embedded behind the high-resolution OLED screen to monitor vital parameters. The underlying biometric imaging technology was developed by technology partner trinamiX. The process captures the reflections of the light points emitted by the laser dot projector in the invisible light spectrum to derive results with the help of algorithms based on artificial intelligence.
