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Ford's own sun helps reduce glare

DAYTIME ANYTIME: No, it is not a very elaborate photo shoot. This is Ford’s sophisticated anti-glare laboratory, boasting 270 lights able to mimic the sun.
DAYTIME ANYTIME: No, it is not a very elaborate photo shoot. This is Ford’s sophisticated anti-glare laboratory, boasting 270 lights able to mimic the sun.
If you are fortunate enough to live in a predominantly sunny motoring climate (like South Africa) you’ll no doubt know how irritating cabin glare can be while driving.

With the level of digitisation on offer in modern cars the issue of reducing glare from various touch surfaces and cabin LCD screens has become vitally important.

Therefore, Ford’s invested in a special artificial lighting room to test and tweak the interior architecture and glare resistant cabin proprieties of its vehicles.

SUNLIGHT IN WINTER

The artificial lighting room, part of the Ford visual performance evaluation laboratory in Michigan, Ontario, has 270 lights with 6000 watts of adjustable illumination to hand – enough to mimic even the brightest midday sunlight.

Engineers and technicians manoeuvre the various lighting units into place, enabling them to evaluate the affect on digital display surfaces and overall glare signature in the cabin.

The data is collated with the intention of developing more glare-resistant materials, display colours and resolution patterns.

With the company’s new Focus set on world domination courtesy of its sophisticated SYNC infotainment and device convergence system, Ford knows it is vitally important that customers can access all information and functionality even when driving away from (or at a right angle) to direct sunlight.

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