Fighter Jet Tech Saves Ford Focus Screen Glare Problem

Heads-up displays, or HUD for short are becoming more popular inside vehicles. We’ve already seen Mazda implement the technology inside their new CX-5 model, but now Ford are bringing the same type of tech to the Ford Focus, and are using fighter jet technology to help with things like glare from a bright road.

The HUD has been designed to make it easier for drivers to keep their eyes on the road and still see important information about their car. Things like speedomiter, navigation and road signs will be present on the new HUD.

The reason Ford are implementing fighter jet technology is because of polarised sunglasses, which could render this overlay useless as polarised sunglasses are designed to block out the type of light that these heads-up display use. The technology therefore has to bounce back polarised light to the driver which would effectively solve the problem.

“Wearing polarised glasses can make a massive difference to visibility for drivers affected by glare, such as when stretches of water, snow or even tarmac reflect sunlight. The Head-up display we are introducing for the all-new Focus offers one of the brightest screens, has among the largest fields of view, and will be clearly visible to all our customers,” said Glen Goold, Ford’s chief program engineer for Focus.

Traditional heads-up displays in vehicles utilise light waves vibrating parallel to the road. The Ford Focus display boosts light waves by vibrating them perpendicular to the road, which is how they counteract the issue with polarised sunglasses. The polycarbonate screen has a multi-layer reflection coating that enables engineers to control the polarisation, colour, transmission and reflection of light, and tailor it to the system’s needs.

Although not a huge issue in the UK as we see maybe a week or two of sunlight anyway, but you get why this technology could be important. Apparently sunlight blinding drivers cause more accidents than snow, rain and fog put together, so its critical that there is no problem when drivers are trying to glance at information while driving.