VERONA – Few words, indeed none. Only lights, which through various colors communicate with those behind the wheel. An idea as simple as it is brilliant that Volkswagen has already put into practice on board the ID.3 and ID.4 and which, inevitably, could only be called ID.Light. Everything happens thanks to a band of 54 multicolored LEDs positioned at the base of the windshield, right in front of the driver’s eyes but also visible from the outside.
Let’s take an example: a white and blue animation serves to signal that the car is ready for use. Useful function, since the electric motor does not vibrate and makes no noise. Again: an animated blue line runs in the direction of turn indicated by the navigator. “When you listen to a navigation message, you need to mentally transfer the information to convert the verbal cue in the right direction,” explains Stefan Franke, one of the ID developers. Light. “It was therefore important to find a new way to communicate intuitively with the driver, to minimize the risk of distraction”.
On the other hand, incoming calls are announced by a slight green flash in the center of the dashboard, while in the event of emergency braking, the ID. Light emits a bright red signal. Finally, when the car is connected to a charging station, a status bar offers the owner a clear indication of the state of charge of the battery, which is also clearly visible from the outside.
“The impression is not that you are talking to a car, but rather that the car is assisting and accompanying you in all situations and taking care of you”, adds Sascha Ziebart, Project Manager of the German giant. In fact, it should be emphasized that the Research and Development Department has dedicated many hours to these functions, to make the system both simple and intelligent. The ID. Light, for example, never communicates two messages together, but only the most important information at a given moment. “We wanted to create a new kind of communication between the car and people,” concludes Mathias Kuhn, Head of User Interface at Volkswagen. “It was therefore important to create a minimalist yet special form of interaction that was easy to understand and interactive”.
.