MIT has shown off a new transparent display that could be used in the future for heads up displays, and it is designed to have a number of advantages over existing systems.
This new transparent display is simple to manufacture, has a wide viewing angle, and many also be relatively inexpensive to produce, and can potentially be manufacturers on a large scale.
The secret to the new system: Nanoparticles are embedded in the transparent material. These tiny particles can be tuned to scatter only certain wavelengths, or colors, or light, while letting all the rest pass right through. That means the glass remains transparent enough to see colors and shapes clearly through it, while a single-color display is clearly visible on the glass.
“The glass will look almost perfectly transparent,” Soljačić says, “because most light is not of that precise wavelength” that the nanoparticles are designed to scatter. That scattering allows the projected image to be seen in much the same way that smoke in the air can reveal the presence of a laser beam passing through it.
The new transparent display could have a wide range of applications, and the display could be created using a thin, inexpensive plastic coating which could be applied to glass.
This would allow the transparent display to be used for heads up displays in vehicles, it could also be used by stores to display information on their windows, and still allow customers to look at merchandise through the windows.
You can find out more information about this new transparent display over at MIT at the link below, it will be interesting to see how it is developed for future use.
Source MIT