Transparent OLED rearview mirror both dazzles and distracts
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 20th 2009 11:28AM
posted April 20th 2009 11:28AM
Although we've been hearing about transparent OLEDs for years now, mum's been the word on an actual product. So far the focus has been on Germany, but it looks like some interesting things have been going down in Korea as well. Researchers at ETRI (the flexible OLED folks) have apparently applied for 51 patents both nationally and internationally for the tech, including one for a transparent oxide resistor that helps increase the aperture ratio of AMOLEDs. And while all this is going down, NeoView KOLON has unveiled a new prototype rearview mirror that utilizes a transparent OLED display for -- well, displaying things. Just be sure to keep your eyes on the road, eh?
Read - "Korean Researchers Develop Transparent Transistors OLED Displays"
Read - "Neoview Kolon transparent OLED prototype"
Read - "Korean Researchers Develop Transparent Transistors OLED Displays"
Read - "Neoview Kolon transparent OLED prototype"
looks like the screens in CSI
I don't know about a rear view mirror. It would make an awesome HUD on the windshield. Just embed it into the windshield and make it user customizable (data display).
Ageed HUD is the way to go
Dammit, don't you know it's rude to take words right out of someone's mouth. This is America, you could get sued for invasion of privacy.
Hopefully someone there is listening because that is a perfect application for this.
I've always thought that an adjustable-transparency HUD-style rearview mirror using TOLEDs to embed it in the windshield would be awesome... put a camera on the back and allow the driver to show or hide the "mirror", or make it semi-transparent using controls on the steering wheel. I tried to explain this to my wife a few months ago, and she didn't think it made sense.
It's awesome until you get a crack in your windshield and you need to drop $3000 to replace it.
Ditto with the HUD. Motion in the RVM should be getting your attention to determine what is coming up behind you and if its needs your attention. Something like this could easily make you ignore that something is happening in the mirror which would be "bad".
I wish I could get this for the windshield of my Viper Fanjet.
It's illegal in Korea to put something distracts driver's attention even it's for helping driving a car like HUD.
ETRI is government funded research institution. I think that's why they put the transparent OLED in rear-view mirror.
what happens when the screen malfunctions and turns pitch black blocking your view?
My kolon hurts.
You should up your fiber intake.
tbh no one uses their rear view mirror, i bet this could almost work!
"tbh no one uses their rear view mirror"
Say what? I hope that wasn't meant to be serious.
So you must be the idiot driving like a turtle in the fast lane and won't pull over when I'm right behind you.
hope i never run into you on the road!
...or vice versa
So the rear view mirror is now a see through speedometer??
How are you supposed to see behind you with that thing??
Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of the rear view mirror?
Go back and read the article again, paying close attention to the part where they mention it's TRANSPARENT.
His statement is correct the purpose is defeated), a transparent mirror is called a WINDOW. Cool tech but not usable unless its going to project an image from a rear mounted camera.
*sigh* seriously, do you think an entire company could do something so stupid? it's transparent so that you can put it over the mirror, DUH. else what the hell is point of making it transparent? you'd pay $1k just so that your rearview mirror obstructs your vision a little less? just remove it for free. so that it can be a display where your mirror used to be? there are a hell of a lot cheaper technologies out there to replace the mirror with a display.
This would be great as a HUD for a motorcycle helmet. (yes, I know lenses would be needed.)
that's a really cool idea.
@The_Steven that is a fantastic idea for full-face helmet - I would love that.
As for using on a car rear-view mirror, I am very VERY skeptical. As noted above, very few people (particularly Americans) even use their mirrors (drive a motorcycle for 30 minutes and this will become glaringly evident). This tech may cause people to look at the RV mirror (a good thing) but only to 'focus' on the data displayed thereon, basically ignoring the mirror aspect.
In cars, my view is there needs to be far less "distracting" tech - because cagers are becoming increasingly distracted from driving and paying attention to others who might shockingly be sharing the roadway (cell phones, texting, makeup, radio, sat radio, DVDs, nav system, on board computers, etc. etc. etc.).
Maybe it's just me, but...how can it be a rearview mirror if it's transparent? Shouldn't it have a reflective surface?
It goes on TOP of the mirror. Or else why would you need it to be transparent??
I think a "mirror" that's just a transparent OLED screen embedded in the windshield would be great. The driver could adjust the transparency with buttons on the steering wheel. I'm tall, and sometimes the mirror in my car blocks my view.
Great. Now there will be widget-caused car accidents.
In all seriousness, a 3d overlay at night could be helpful when navigating, directions and speed limits, as well as restaurants and gas stations, right on your windshield. Let's hope this product will be on the market soon!
This would be a kolonic event. The news already splattered worldwide.
this reminds me of children of men's car windsheild effect...
Rear view? Kolon? Is this an Onion article?
is it iPhone like with muti-touch?
Ever hear of cameras geniuses?
Nothing is better for one's concentration than staring at some German Kolon while driving.
Perfect for getting yourself in a wreck :)
I'd love to see this technology come to eyeglasses. Terminator vision, baby.
Recession antidote? Please?
ummmmm this isn't rearview, and isn't a mirror... Your attempts at being cool and snarky have failed.
Could have saved yourself by proposing that perhaps the display show video from a rear-facing camera...
This is just a heads-up-display.
Integration with your entire windshield doesn't make sense...
with a standalone unit like above (but with a thinner bezel please)
this could be a neat after-market add-on, however.
maybe you should actually read the articles before you tear them down. you just sound like a jackass.
It boggles my mind how many people need to have this explained to them. You know what, I'm feeling lazy. Figure it out for yourself.
Eric is correct. The Engadget article (headline) is wrong to say this is a rear-view mirror. Even the oled-info.com (second READ link) is clear that it is speculating that it might be rear-view mirror.
This is plainly a heads-up display, which could certainly also display a rear-mounted camera feed to serve as a rear-view mirror.
This is designed to fit over top of an existing rear view mirror. You will still have full (depending on the opacity of the OLED) use of the rear view mirror. I doubt everything you see displayed in the image above, will be displayed all at once on the mirror in a practical application. More likely, these are not functioning prototypes, and are just displaying all, and what information the device is capable of showing.
Whats the average time you look to the rear view mirror? Maybe 1 second while driving doing a check before switching lanes. While at a light making sure no one is about to plow into you. And while backing up.
It seems too distracting to have to look up into the mirror to see the information there, not to mention if you are driving, you're taking your eyes off the road to view info, that may well be displayed anyway on your dashboard, or instrument cluster.
This would work good with exterior mirrors, useful information displayed over them *while* you are actually looking into the mirrors, and would make backing up some of the larger SUV's a lot easier, and safer.
Use the displays in unison with the vehicles Object Detection sensors/cameras. So rather than just a beep, and a 2 dimensional image from a birds eye view, you also get an idea of where or what side the object is on, how big it is, what direction to steer in to avoid it if you still wish to continue backing up. Blind spot alerts while changing lanes can benefit from OLED on the external mirrors as well.
I'm waiting for the full OLED exterior for a vehicle. Car glows at night, making it more visible. Change colors on the fly. Endless customizing of colors and themes available. See a cute chick in the car next to you, run your mobile number as a text down the side of the car for her to copy.
If this was truly designed to go OVER a rear-view mirror as some seem to think, don't you think they would have oriented the display that way in their booth rather than have it attached to a surface at the bottom as if it was an (!!!!) INSTRUMENT CLUSTER? I mean come on. It's a clear instrument cluster that doesn't obstruct your view, doesn't look cheesy like a projection HUD and doesn't make your windshield cost $3000. It just happens to be unfortunately shaped like a rear-view. Just look at the info displayed! It's an instrument cluster! Get a clue people. Even if this were to fit over the mirror it would make the mirror useless. How can I see what's behind me with all this redundant display crap in my way. Why would someone need to know how fast they are going and what gear they are in (Park?) while looking in a rear-view mirror?
Great for HUDs, as others have suggested ... and augmented reality displays (which is really just a superset of HUDs). Put it on the inside of your glasses, goggles, dive mask, motorcycle helmet, etc. Combine it with the MIT media lab's finger-tip controlled wearable computer interface (maybe even put the onboard sensor for that into the same object as the HUD/augmented-reality display), and you might have an interesting basis for wearable computers.
The HUD idea is pretty genius - hopefully that'd eliminate some of the glare issues with current setups.
This would make a hell of a lot of sense as a windscreen overlay instead of the HUDs that are going into BMWs etc at the moment (those things are huge!), however the RVM ain't a great place at all to be having info that you would regularly be looking at.
That's an unfortunate name, but KOLON stands for Korea Nylon Inc.
How about using tiny transparent OLED displays inside DSLR cameras between the viewfinder and mirror/prism. You could select various settings to display which would utilize the entire viewfinder area and not just the edges. Grids, focus points, shot information, etc. could all be displayed anywhere in the view.