Car manufacturers are very excited about Head-up Display (HUD) technology and are searching for cost-effective solutions that enable drivers and passengers to view critical information (speed, directions and hazard identification) without causing distractions. This approach is attractive to drivers and delivers benefits which include improved safety, greater vehicle utility and enhanced functionality for self-driving vehicles as part of new mobility business models, such as Mobility-as-a-Service. Safety is a key benefit of HUDs, with driver distraction a contributing factor in 80% of all traffic accidents. Organisations such as Continental and Apple see line-of-sight displays and HUDs as crucial to maintaining driver engagement and confidence. They support the introduction of self-driving cars and enable new user experiences for both drivers and passengers. Major OEMs are therefore seeking low-cost display technology that delivers a view-ahead and AR experience using a compact form factor. Competitive HUD technologies cannot meet this need due to several technical problems. These include inconsistent image quality across a wide viewing angle, inability to accommodate different windscreen geometries, and bulky projection units. This results in costly, inferior HUD systems which are unsuitable for mass-market applications. Ceres are a world leader in holography and have developed the technology to solve these problems and manufacture at scale. We use an advanced photopolymer film to produce low cost, versatile holographic optical elements (HOEs). These can be easily laminated into windscreens and coupled to 'tried and tested' compact projection units from trusted suppliers to produce a full colour, wide Field-of-view (up to 20°x8°) HUD for mass-market applications. Ceres also have strong relationships with key industry stakeholders, including automotive OEMs and windscreen interlayer companies. However, our current manual HOE test process is labour-intensive and impractical. To meet this market opportunity, this project will develop quality control systems which can analyse every HOE produced quickly, without compromising high-volume manufacturing capacity. These systems must analyse both master templates (digitally printed by Ceres) and the replicas for each windscreen. This is technically demanding and the primary focus of this project. Once this work is complete, our exciting opportunity will be fully unlocked. In summary, this project will enable Ceres to achieve significant sales into automotive markets by 2028\. Across multiple revenue streams, we anticipate that our technology will unlock over £2bn of additional revenue across the wider supply chain, deliver safety benefits, support UK exports and create new skilled job opportunities.

Ceres Imaging is developing a technology to create a new generation of photo-realistic 3D static holographic displays (posters) derived from any 3D computer-based model, with the goal of supplying to advertising and technical markets. This will give advertisers and media companies effectively a new 3-dimensional media, increasing design freedom, creativity and impact of display advertising. This new 3D media will complement other 3D moving media (such as 3D cinema and 3D TV) by providing the equivalent of existing advertising posters at competitive prices and in volume. However, the potential for a viable static 3D media extends to advancing all current 2D static print media, with the ability to augment and supplement existing products. Achieving this potential crucially depends on achieving both the required performance through technological advances, and competitive costs in volume, both of which this project addresses, building on core technology already developed by the company. Current technology is only capable of producing one-off holograms with the required performance, for which there is an identified business in bespoke high-value installation. The project will develop the replication technology to deliver production quantity copies of the one-off "master" holograms based on a new custom photopolymer (PP) which, when combined with a novel integrated illumination system, guarantees image performance and hence value for the user. Elements of the technology have already been investigated, and it is from this knowledge that the proposed project has been developed. Successful development of this technology will lead to significant reduction in production costs and increase in available quantities to potentially open up global advertising markets and become a new medium for visual creative industries.

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