StageReport Bühnen und Show Produktion January 2015

Lobo laser display used in Mercedes-CES show car
The autonomous Mercedes prototype F 015 uses an integrated laser display to communicate with pedestrians and other vehicles. On 5 January, Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche presented the future vision of Mercedes for autonomous driving in form of the spectacular prototype “F 015 – Luxury in Motion” to the amazed audience during his keynote speech at the entertainment electronics exhibition CES.
A central aspect of the prototype was the communication of an autonomous vehicle with the outside. An extremely miniaturized laser projector, developed specifically for this show car by the Aalen-based laser specialists Lobo, was integrated into the Mercedes star of the vehicle and can project a multitude of information onto the road in front of the car – including distance information and warnings for pedestrians and other vehicles. What would have been a friendly gesture by the driver in normal vehicles to indicate to a pedestrian that the driver would give way to let them cross the road, this prototype does by using lasers to project a crosswalk onto the road, which visually and acoustically prompts a pedestrian to cross the road.