New Mercedes-Maybach Greets Pedestrians With Headlights
The 2019 Maybach S-Class is smart enough to adapt to road conditions, and even leave pedestrians cute messages on the street.
Usually, you don’t really want attention from passing cars. But in the case of the new Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, we might make an exception. Using Mercedes’ new Digitial Light System, the car can display messages on the pavement in front of it. In this demonstration, it uses the system to communicate with pedestrians.
“Let light speak,” Mercedes declares in this recent promo video. “Using our new light technology, we decided to brighten up some people’s day: with compliments. So we let light speak.” And in this brief clip, the potential for this technology is nothing short of amazing.
Set up in an unnamed European city square, a woman walks by looking down at her phone. As a cyclist approaches in front of her, the car projects “Hey! Look Up!” Of course, the woman is spared the embarrassment of walking into a moving bicycle. Next, another woman walks by listening to music, so the car projects music notes onto the cobblestone street. When a jogger stops to tie her shoes, the car projects: “Doing great! Now keep going!”An older couple get a heart with an arrow through it, while a leather-clad guy with a tambourine gets “Nice outfit! You rock!”
Of course, once this tech hits the streets, it won’t be used to flatter pedestrians. The Digital Light System is made up of over one million reflectors inside the headlights. When they’re arranged in a certain way, they can produce messages in front of the car. On the road, it could display warnings about road conditions. On the track, it could project the perfect driving line. And for pedestrians in real life, it could display things like who has the right of way. There’s a lot that it can do, and we’re excited to see it introduced into the Mercedes-Benz lineup.
For now, it will remain solely in rarified Maybach territory. Though in the next decade or so, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it trickle down into other vehicles. We can only imagine what it will look like after years of even more refinement.
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