[CES 2024] Continental unveils Swarovski Mobility and the world’s first crystal center display

[Auto Herald Reporter Jeong Ho-in] Continental will present the world’s first crystal center display at CES 2024. It proposes a new possibility of integrating minimalistic luxury into car interiors through the world’s first crystal-based, frameless, translucent display.

The 10-inch display using cutting-edge micro LED technology enables unprecedented levels of brightness and contrast, and the micro LED panel that creates the image is attached to the crystal body, making the content appear to be floating. The display that combines vehicle display and crystal was developed jointly by Continental and Swarovski Mobility.

“Continental will focus on introducing innovations for future premium cars that generate interest and emotions, with the crystal center display as a key component,” said Boris Mergel, head of Continental’s UX division. “Continental will use the display as information.” “We are developing the area of ​​highly personalized user experience beyond direct exposure,” he said.

The crystal shape with a unique three-dimensional facet cut developed by Swarovski Mobility catches the eye and emphasizes an elegant appearance. Additionally, the eye-catching placement of the central information display offers designers a new way to apply a minimalist aesthetic to luxury car interiors.

The crystal center display, a key control element, plays a central role in motion and information reproduction. The translucent, floating display straddles the line between technology and intuitive interaction, operating in-car virtual assistance systems in ways never seen before. This extends to an emotional brand experience through interaction between people and vehicles, called human-machine interface.

Continental collaborated with Swarovski Mobility to achieve this unique combination of technology and aesthetics, with the two companies placing particular emphasis on the development of volume-shaped crystal panels with unique facets thanks to special polishing techniques.

The experts at Swarovski Mobility have designed a delicate yet extremely durable crystal housing that meets the optical and technical challenges of in-vehicle use, allowing the driver and passengers to see directly into the center console behind the striking, transparent tinted crystal. You can.

“The Crystal Center Display is a combination of production and process technologies that together with Continental have implemented innovative new design elements, making it very impressive both technically and visually,” said Peter Wittmann, Senior Vice President of Swarovski Mobility B2B. “Rovsky’s crystals are a key element for the interaction of car interfaces beyond the interior,” he said.

To create the illusion of floating content, Continental’s engineers applied cutting-edge micro LED technology to project the display onto colored crystal panels, while merging everything into one seamless device.

Featuring self-luminous pixels, Micro LED displays offer significantly better brightness and contrast than similar technologies. The display was evaluated as combining technological features with an innovative and minimalist design, and won the Innovation Award Honoree in the CES 2024 Advanced Mobility (Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility) category.

Meanwhile, Continental will participate in CES 2024 held in Las Vegas from January 9 to 12. Continental plans to showcase a variety of the latest mobility technologies ranging from roads to the cloud at a dedicated booth set up in Central Plaza, located across from the Las Vegas Convention Center.