The Future of Glass Technology

In a world where we rely on smart technology to improve our everyday lives, it’s no surprise that drivers are also set to feel the benefits while they are on the road. At Jaguar, new cars are rolling off the production line with a head-up display, allowing them to access information and view their internal readings on the windscreen.

While over at McLaren, they are engaged in a project that uses ultrasound to stop anything from adhering to a windscreen – If it enters mass production, wipers may go the same way as extending aerials and manual wind-down windows.

Although it’s mainly supercar producers which are at the cutting edge of augmented reality driving, the idea of a smart windscreen that protects a car’s occupants is becoming common place in far more wallet friendly vehicles.

Many cars already react to the weather with automatic windscreen wipers, but eventually, virtual windscreens will allow drivers to check on environmental conditions and adjust their speed accordingly. There are also trials in place for light sensitive glass that will react to natural lighting conditions to give drivers a better view of the road – no matter what the time of day.

The technology to enable these advances has filtered through from other industries, frequently companies or inventors where aware of the specific properties contained within a product – but had to wait until the problem or need arose to market it.

Photosensitive glass has been used by the military for years, as well as in buildings such as the UN headquarters in New York. However, in the late 1960’s an American company, Corning, stumbled upon a light, yet hard as carbon steel, glass during a botched experiment using normal photosensitive glass. They named the new product Chemcor and began pitching it to a variety of industries.

As well as being heat resistant, it was extremely tough and could refract light, but car manufacturers where content to keep using the usual glass for their windscreens. This meant that Corning was forced to shelve their new product in the early 1970’s, but the arrival of smart gadgets caused them to dust off their unsuccessful idea and target it at a whole new application – mobile devices. They improved the glass, made it thinner, found a way to put it into mass production and renamed it gorilla glass.

This chemically reinforced Gorilla Glass is now trademarked and ready to be used across a wide range of other sectors – naturally, it lends itself well to future windscreen production. It’s thin, resistant to scratches and can survive significant impacts, moreover it could be linked up with a display device and LCD technology to project images onto a windscreen.

The real benefits for many motorists will be related to safety however, as these more advanced glasses will form part of the integrity of the car, contributing toward the strength of the vehicle during an accident. Gorilla Glass could protect the driver and passengers if the car rolls or suffers a head-on collision, performing the same safety tasks as airbags by shielding the occupants from damage caused by flying debris.

Similarly, sapphire glass, which contains naturally occurring iron and titanium, is a real possibility for the windscreens of the future. It has a far higher fracture point than Gorilla Glass and unlike bullet proof windscreens; it remains light and won’t weigh down a vehicle.

Here at The Windscreen Company the safety of our customers is our main priority, and whilst we cannot yet offer super strength glass or digital display screens – we will ensure your windscreen is fitted or repaired to the highest standards, to keep you and your passengers safe.