How interior lighting is transforming the in-vehicle experience

Once limited to support certain basic functions, interior lighting has transformed the vehicle interior over past 10 years, thanks to growing use of ambient lighting, which is helping automakers to deliver a better in-vehicle user experience.

Until late 1990s interior lighting in vehicles mainly comprised map lamps, dome lamps and a few other auxiliary lamps. These lamps generally used when driving at night, helping drivers and other occupants get into car, sit properly and exit from the car safely once the commute is over. Such lights also helped drivers and passengers find something in their vehicles in the event of an emergency. In addition to these basic functional lamps, some premium vehicles also featured reading lamps for rear seat passengers. These lamps mostly used conventional bulbs as the light source, offering very limited illumination.