Zeiss Debuts New Approach to Cockpit and Cabin Displays

Zeiss Microoptics is breaking into the aviation industry, offering new cockpit and cabin displays that it says are needed for more connected aircraft. The innovations the group is demonstrating for the first time at the Farnborough Airshow build on its 175-year pedigree of precision optical engineering in fields such as medicine, industrial metrology, microscopy, and advanced imaging.

The company’s new aerospace division is chasing applications for its scalable ProSight technology in head-up displays (HUD) and transparent cabin displays for next-generation aircraft. It says this approach will consolidate the way increasingly complex data is presented in one place, avoiding the need for multiple screens and separate hardware.

According to Zeiss, it can relieve the pressure on aircraft manufacturers and tier-one suppliers to deliver greater display functionality without increasing weight and space requirements by tapping advances in holography and micro-optical engineering. It says that by controlling and directing light at a microscopic scale, optical functions can be integrated into transparent surfaces to deliver displays that are more compact, efficient, and intuitive.

The Zeiss HUD architecture offers an alternative to flight deck systems already produced by companies including Collins, Honeywell, Thales, Elbit, and Garmin. The new market entrant claims these “conventional systems” rely on complex optical architectures that can limit field of view and increase integration challenges.

The Germany-based group’s HUD features a wide field of vision that will improve situational awareness for pilots by projecting critical flight and navigation information directly. By enabling pilots to keep their focus “eyes out” rather than looking down at cockpit instruments, Zeiss said the technology supports safer, faster, and more intuitive decision-making during critical phases of flight by removing the need for bulky projectors traditionally associated with HUDs. It claims the result is a significantly lighter, more compact solution capable of delivering a wider field of view and high optical performance, while reducing cockpit integration complexity and energy consumption.

In the cabins of airliners and business jets, Zeiss is proposing to present integrated information on transparent surfaces such as windows or dividers separating different compartments. According to the company, the ProSight technology will improve options for passenger communications and entertainment, as well as overall cabin design.