Context-Aware Ambient Display Door Panel

A full-length LED matrix in the vehicle door that communicates calls, hazards and door-opening warnings with light. Installed in a demo vehicle in 2020.

Company: Faurecia
Year: 2019 — 2020
Role: Concept, system design, prototype build and in-vehicle integration
Team: Cockpit of the Future, with a French OEM's Silicon Valley R&D branch
Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Technology

Addressable LED matrix
Light diffusion panels
Synchronized driver / passenger panels
Digital rearview mirror mock-up (iPad mini)
Vehicle integration

01The opportunity

Ambient lighting in cars was decoration. Door panels are large, always in the driver's and passengers' peripheral vision, and directly related to one of the most common urban accidents: a door opened into a passing cyclist. Light in the door could do real work.

02The idea

A dynamic, context-aware ambient display integrated into the interior door panels: a matrix of LEDs running the full length of the door, with a digital rearview mirror, delivering functional and customizable light effects.

03My role

I developed the concept and the system, built the demonstrators through rapid prototyping, and drove the collaboration with the Faurecia Cockpit of the Future team and the OEM's Silicon Valley R&D branch, which culminated in 2020 with the system installed in a vehicle.

04How it worked

Driver- and passenger-side LED panels sit behind diffusion panels in the door trim and are synchronized, so an event on one side is reflected on the other and control can be shared. An iPad mini stands in for a digital rearview mirror. The light patterns are driven by vehicle context.

Ambient lighting: Customizable, user-controlled effects that set the cabin atmosphere and personalize the drive.
Contextual alerts: Visual cues for incoming calls, potential hazards and pedestrian proximity while parking.
Safety warnings: Alerts when it is unsafe to open the door, for example when a bicycle or another obstacle is approaching.
Interconnected displays: Driver and passenger panels react to changes on either side, enabling collaborative control and shared interactions.

05Prototype / product

Fig. 01PrototypeThe final system installed in the demo vehicle. I walk through the synchronized light effects: customizable ambient lighting, safety alerts and real-time notifications, with the LED panels integrated into the doors and synchronized between sides.

Fig. 02PrototypeAn informal presentation before vehicle installation: driver- and passenger-side panels and the rearview mirror assemblies on tables simulating the doors, with the diffusion panels and synchronization already in place.

Fig. 03PrototypeDuring development: LED panels and mirror installed in their housings, before the light matrix was diffused, so individual LEDs are still visible.

Fig. 04PrototypeEarly rapid prototyping: the LED matrix under a temporary diffusion panel, used to test light patterns and refine diffusion.

The polished ambient display demonstrator — Fig. 05PrototypeThe polished demonstrator.

06Outcome

A highly polished demonstrator installed in a vehicle in 2020 through the collaboration between Faurecia's Cockpit of the Future team and the OEM's Silicon Valley R&D branch, showing how ambient light can improve safety, communicate context and connect passengers with their vehicle.

Installed in a demo vehicle, 2020
OEM collaboration