Continental’s minimalistic vehicle cockpit concept wins gold at German Design Award 2023

Technology company Continental has won top honours at the German Design Award 2023 for its elegantly restrained vision for vehicle interiors – the Luxury Minimalism Concept – and has received the gold award in the category ‘Excellent Product Design – Automotive Parts and Accessories’. In addition, other Continental display solutions were also recognised as ‘Winners’ in the same category, including the high-resolution Natural 3D Display and the Curved Ultrawide Display.

“To be recognised multiple times with one of the most prestigious design awards in the world is a great reward for our entire team. We are particularly proud of the Gold award because it underlines our outstanding design performance as well as our ability to think in a revolutionary way and thus set impulses for the entire industry,” said Philipp von Hirschheydt, Head of the User Experience business unit at Continental. 

Reduced design in Luxury Minimalism Concept 

Simplicity meets high value in Continental’s minimalist design concept for vehicle interiors. Instead of a multitude of screens dominating the cockpit, the reduced design of the Luxury Minimalism Concept creates a feel-good atmosphere on four wheels and simplifies interaction to the essentials.

Inspired by the trend towards luxurious vehicle interiors, the centerpiece of the concept is a display in avant-garde diamond form. The display acts as a central driver information system and at the same time as a valuable home for a virtual assistant also envisaged in the concept, which serves as artificial intelligence to support the driver. The combination with the integrated display control panel based on Continental’s In2visible Display technology enables fully comprehensive and intuitive operation despite the reduced design. The trick: As if by magic, the control panel only appears when needed. 

One aspect that the jury of the German Design Award particularly appreciated: “The dashboard instruments and displays in the automobile of the future will be invisible until you need them. This ensures aesthetic calm in the cockpit and promotes driver concentration. In keeping with this vision, Continental is setting a new standard with its new Luxury Minimalism cockpit concept”, according to the jury’s statement. 

5K Natural 3D Display: immersive experience

The 5K Natural 3D Display, an innovative display solution for a three-dimensional and immersive user experience, bagged a ‘Winner’ award.

The light field technology enables a 3D experience without additional special glasses or head tracking camera. In combination with the new 5K Display panel, a particularly natural viewing experience is created as the display content can be viewed from even more angles. This enables, for example, complex lighting effects that change perspective correctly when the head moves. In addition, the high-resolution 5K technology creates an even larger eyebox and thus more room for head movements to see the 3D image, which at the same time looks even more immersive and natural.

The Curved Ultrawide Display spans across the entire width of the cockpit, creating a new dimension of user experience. Innovative operating concept is based on an invisible control panel.

Curved Ultrawide Display: enhanced freedom for designers

Displayed at last month’s CES 2023 in Las Vegas, the Curved Ultrawide Display is also a ‘Winner’ in the ‘Excellent Product Design – Automotive Parts and Accessories’ category. The curved pillar-to-pillar display extends across the entire width of the cockpit, making it the driver, central and front passenger screens in one.

The display is illuminated by a matrix backlight with 3,000 LEDs. This results in excellent picture quality with high contrast, while individual areas of the screen that are not currently needed can be dimmed. This saves power and improves readability. Thanks to its width of 1.29 metres, the Curved Ultrawide Display offers designers great freedom in designing futuristic interiors. Interaction between the user and the display is also based on Continental’s integrated In2visible Display technology, which prevents superfluous information from distracting the driver, as the control panel only appears when required. 

The German Design Awards are the premium award of the German Design Council. With its worldwide spectrum and international appeal, it is one of the most prestigious awards in the design landscape across all industries. Since 2012, the German Design Awards have been identifying significant design trends, presenting them to a broad public and honoring them. Every year, extraordinary submissions in product design, communication design and architecture are honoured. 

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