OPTIS North America, San Jose, California, announced the release of its latest virtual reality editor. The new version, VRX 2018, has been enhanced to counter the growing number of failures that auto manufacturers run into when under the scrutiny of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) formidable lighting assessments.
As anyone who’s driven down the road may know, today’s autos come with a number of lighting configurations. From older traditional bulbs, to just-off-the line LED lamp schemes and even those obnoxious blue lights that seem to always follow in the rear-view mirror, today’s roadways are bathed in a slew of hues that weren’t around a decade ago. For automakers who have tight product design timelines, developing a new lighting system can be difficult enough without having to wonder if the lights their customers rely on will pass highway safety standards.
Unfortunately, more automakers are experiencing failing grades when it comes to the nighttime illumination their cars are carrying. To account for this issue, OPTIS has enhanced its latest virtual assessment package to make the hard work of designing a car’s beam easier.
“The IIHS is one of the most influential auto ratings,” said Nicolas Orand, OPTIS product development director. “Considering the large amount of automotive companies that failed IIHS headlight tests on their 2016 models, OPTIS created VRX 2018 with those tests in mind. Using this updated software, OPTIS works to ensure auto companies never fail a consumer rating again and helps guarantee their spot among top-rated vehicles.”
According to OPTIS, the latest version of VRX 2018 includes new tools dedicated to the assessment of original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers, provides validation for pixel headlights and management tools for headlight control logic adjustment, and offers a virtual assessment tool that can mimic the slings and arrows of the IIHS’s toughest tests.
“With VRX 2018, OEMs can deliver highly qualitative and smart lighting adapted to all conditions for their customers and everyone on the road,” Orand said. “Testing lighting systems virtually and adding control logic features results in a safer end-product, which builds on a brand’s reputation for safety and high quality, as well as significantly reducing time to market.”
With these new tools in place, automakers should be able to confidently confront the reality that lighting systems are both more sophisticated and complex to integrate into a car’s central nervous system. Hopefully they’ll also go forward in the notion that no matter the conditions their drivers might face, they’ll never be in the dark.