Press Release
Ambient interior lighting: Safety and well-being through lighting
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Sophisticated lighting concept for the interior of the E-Class
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Mixture of diffused, distributed and precisely focused light
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Pleasant visual atmosphere contributes to travelling comfort
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Light as a psychological and biological stimulant for the driver
Pleasing contours, soft materials and attractive colours – these are the well-known "ingredients" of good interior design. The same applies to cars. Achieving a tasteful composition creates an atmosphere in which the occupants feel comfortable.
More than ever before, light is now also used as an interior design element in automobiles. Designers and engineers are devoting increasing attention to this medium, and using lighting effects to reinforce the formal expression of the interior and provide the occupants with an even more pleasant stay on board. Moreover, the right lighting can also make a contribution to driving safety. For this reason Mercedes-Benz concerns itself with this subject more intensively than other automobile brands.
While the 1998 S-Class still had individual LEDs to provide discreet points of light on the door handles, in the front footwells and above the centre console, the presentation of the E-Class at the beginning of 2002 marked a change to so-called "ambient interior lighting". This not only includes the indirect illumination of all the major switches and controls, as well as LEDs in the door handle recesses and footwells, but also special luminous panels. These frame the front and rear overhead control units, providing a particularly pleasant lighting mood in the ELEGANCE and AVANTGARDE models, even when on the move. The LED in the interior mirror, which is directed at the centre console, is also part of the ambient lighting scheme.
The diffused light can be dimmed in five stages for the front area, and can be individually adjusted using the keys on the multifunction steering wheel and the central display in the instrument cluster. Passengers in the rear are able to select the brightness of the rear interior lighting by means of two switches in the overhead control unit. In models equipped with the panoramic sliding roof, Mercedes engineers have used the centre division between the areas of glass to accommodate two light panels for the rear.
In this way ambient lighting enhances the interior with a carefully coordinated mixture of diffuse, distributed and localised light when the vehicle is on the move - discreet, dazzle-free and yet effective. This means that the sense of spaciousness and the high quality of the interior can also be appreciated by night.
The E-Class is the only car in its market segment to feature such a sophisticated and well-conceived lighting concept for the interior.
Operation, perception and fitness: light as a safety factor
Around 90 percent of all the important information required to drive a car is taken in by visual means, i.e. via the eyes. This shows how important efficient headlamps are for driving safety. But it also shows how important an intelligently designed interior lighting scheme is. In terms of operating safety, for example: during the hours of darkness the ambient interior lighting in the E-Class provides better visual support for control processes and allows easier recognition of the control switches – especially in the centre console.
Improved perceptive safety is another important benefit: the ambient lighting concept of the E-Class allows the interior lighting to be adjusted to suit the light sources outside the vehicle. Because the interior is discreetly illuminated, there is less need for the eyes to adapt to the difference in brightness between the vehicle interior and the road, which means less strain on the eyes and therefore less rapid fatigue.
And finally a pleasant "visual atmosphere" makes a significant contribution to driver-fitness safety, a development discipline to which Mercedes-Benz attaches particular importance. The aim of driver-fitness safety is to perfect the technology of an automobile to such an extent that it relieves the driver’s workload and maintains or even in some measure improves his driving ability. This enables the driver to pay more attention to the traffic situation and keeps him fit enough to handle critical situations with confidence and control.
Owing to many years of activity in this field, the specialists at DaimlerChrysler Research are aware that in addition to physical fitness, emotional factors such as mood, stress and motivation contribute to driver-fitness safety. These can also be influenced by intelligent lighting design in the interior of a car.
Well-being and alertness: light as a sensory stimulant
From research findings in the field of industrial psychology, automobile developers also know that light not only provides illumination, but can also act as a psychological and biological stimulant to improve driving performance. These findings provide the basis for the interior lighting of the E-Class, although the lighting intensity must out of necessity be much lower than in offices or industrial workshops owing to the special conditions in an automobile. Nonetheless lighting creates the mood, and where light is completely lacking there is a drop in motivation and performance. There is also a biological reason for this: when darkness falls the pineal gland in the human brain releases the sleep hormone melatonin to tell the body that it is night-time. Mercedes-Benz counters this effect with the help of ambient interior lighting, thereby making a contribution to removing a major cause of accidents, namely tiredness.
