[Image above] Credit: Corning Incorporated; YouTube
At the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 this past January—the annual exhibition for the latest consumer electronics and technology—Corning Incorporated debuted its vision for the future of automobiles.
The company must have been peering into a crystal ball, because it’s clear that it sees a lot of glass.
Corning’s Connected Car Concept, not surprisingly, incorporates a considerable amount of Gorilla Glass. We already know that some car companies are integrating Gorilla Glass windshields and windows into high-end cars, such as the Ford GT.
Corning has made a strong case for the benefits that Gorilla Glass can offer to car windshields—in addition to being tougher and less likely to break than regular soda-lime glass, Gorilla Glass windshields are also lighter weight and have optical advantages as well.
But some of the other places that Corning hopes to see glass going might surprise you.
The new Connected Car prototype that Corning built also features Gorilla Glass integrated into a heads-up display, all-glass dashboard, center touchscreen console, and even into the steering wheel.
“The most notable thing about the dashboard is probably that the displays are right there on the surface, not sunk down into the dashboard or covered by overhanging shades to protect them from sunlight,” according to a CNN Money article. “That’s because, according to Corning, the displays are bright and clear enough to see even in bright daylight and they aren’t prone to damage or discoloration from the sun.”
Plus the center console touchscreen virtually eliminates the need for any buttons, and it also features a wireless charging station, according to Corning.
But I have to wonder whether all these beautiful displays—which are likely to display data about your car, the road, your tunes, driving conditions, the weather, and all the notifications from your connected smartphone—might be distracting to a human driver. But perhaps that’s when technology will intervene.
See more of Corning’s concept car in the short video below.
Credit: CNNMoney; YouTube
For more from Corning about the Connected Car, check out this longer video (it runs 7.5 minutes).
Credit: Corning Incorporated; YouTube