It happens all the time. You're leaving a sporting event, concert or any crowded affair in the night...and can't find your car in a massive parking lot. Not only is it frustrating beyond belief, but it's a buzzkill from whatever you just enjoyed.
Well, BMW wants to change that feeling. That's why the automaker is introducing its Welcome Light Carpet technology for its 7 Series. The lighting system illuminates the ground — with a simple tap of the key fob — paving the way for an owner to find his or her car in the dark.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Germany developed the technology using microoptic lenses, which direct light from under the car onto the ground.
"Thanks to these specially designed microoptics it's possible to project light beams from the underbody to the ground in a striped pattern covering around four square meters at the vehicle doors on both sides," Dr. Andreas Brauer, the microoptic systems department head at the IOF, said in a Fraunhofer press release statement.
The projectors are fitted into a honeycomb cluster, so they're able to beam light prominently to illuminate the ground for drivers to find the vehicle.
While this marks the first time BMW has used the technology in a volume market, Brauer says the possibility of such a lighting system being utilized in the future is limitless — including well beyond the auto industry.
"There is an extremely wide range of possible uses for this type of array lighting, extending from safety technologies and medical applications to mechanical engineering and traditional signal lighting," he said.
Until then, BMW 7 Series owners will be glad to have the Welcome Light Carpet technology at their disposal.
How long do you think it will take before the technology becomes a standard feature of vehicles?
