German auto giant BMW and South Korean electronics multinational LG were among the world’s biggest brands to unveil new products this month using smart glass technology developed by Israeli company Gauzy.

At the annual IAA Mobility 2021 (also known as the International Motor Show Germany) conference which kicked off on September 7, BMW presented the BMWi Vision Flyer, a compact all-electric vehicle “designed in accordance with the principles of the circular economy” that incorporates dynamic shading headlights developed with Gauzy for “a futuristic exterior,” the automaker said.

The front and rear headlight systems offer digital surfaces that resemble grids using ultra-thin curved glass. The headlights come on when the vehicle is on and the lighting systems can be controlled to varying degrees.

Separately, LG Display launched a 55-inch transparent OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) panel using Gauzy technology that can replace windows in public transport vehicles for more dynamic displays. The panel is laminated with Gauzy’s Suspended Particle Device (SPD) technology, which allows adaptability to bright environments and changing lighting conditions. According to the Israeli company, the SPD technology dims the transparent OLED panel to “any desired opacity, blocking up to 99% of the light and allowing high contrast and rich colors day and night.”

“LG Display is delighted to present for the first time transparent OLED displays designed for trains in the European market,” said Cho Min-Woo, Head of Transparent OLED Business at LG Display, in a statement. announcement during the IAA. LG Display is a subsidiary of LG and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of thin-film transistor liquid crystal panels, flexible displays and OLEDs.

The company, added Cho Min-Woo, “will bring new possibilities with its transparent OLED to the signage and mobility markets while providing new, innovative and fashionable ways for all kinds of businesses to display signs. information through eye-catching spatial designs and interior effects.

Last year, LG began replacing the windows of subway trains in Beijing and Shenzhen with transparent OLED panels, providing commuters with travel information such as metro timetables and flight schedules, in addition to forecasts. weather and news. The signs have also been incorporated into overhead trains in Japan and in key displays in the parking lot of the Trade Tower in Seoul, South Korea.

Gauzy CEO Eyal Peso told The Times of Israel in a telephone interview last week that with this technology, companies can “have a drink [panels] and make them full-fledged displays for commercials and entertainment.

This opens up a world of possibilities for automakers and other manufacturers, he said.

Peso co-founded Gauzy in 2009 with Adrian Loffer, who is the company’s chief technology officer. The Tel Aviv-based operation went on to develop liquid crystal glass panels, or smart glass, for use in a variety of industries, including automotive, consumer electronics, construction, home appliances and solar energy.

Its LCG (Light Control Glass) products bring high technology to glass, films and other materials, enabling a number of applications, including controlling window transparency, passing a window from transparent to frosted with the push of a button and create optical blinds in the glass for privacy and shading.

Gauzy has worked with a number of automakers around the world, including Daimler, to incorporate its light control glass technologies into their vehicles. It has partnered with BMW, LG, automotive supplier Brose, Vision Systems, Texas Instruments and others on a range of lighting and shading products, Peso said.

“The future of screens is transparent, and it is here now. The ability to make any window active, multifunctional and the ability to provide visual and thermal comfort as well as communication is one of Gauzy’s main goals, ”Peso said in a company statement this month. this. By adding our LCG smart glass technologies to glass and other technologies like Clear OLED, together we are setting a new standard in signage.

Promisingly, the technology can also be applied to refrigerators, for example, where Gauzy can make the doors “transparent or translucent and people don’t need to open it to see what’s inside. “Peso said.

Gauzy’s glass technology makes it possible to project advertisements on windows (Courtesy)

“It can waste a lot of energy because sometimes people can leave the door open for two minutes until they decide, and the device works really hard to keep its cooling system running. With Gauzy at the door, it can be avoided, ”he added, indicating that some announcements related to these capabilities are underway.

So far, Peso has welcomed new products from two “large companies deploying large applications”.

Gauzy is headquartered in Tel Aviv, with additional manufacturing, operations and sales offices in Germany, China and the United States. Its distribution channels serve major brands in more than 40 countries, according to the company.

Gauzy Eyal Peso co-founders, right, and Adrian Loffer. (Libby Green)

Last year, Gauzy raised about $ 10 million in Series C funding from investors Hyundai Motor Company, Singapore-based fund BlueRed Partners, and Avery Dennison Corp., an American manufacturer of labeling materials and equipment. ‘packaging.

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