By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The growing controversy over headlight glare has presented an opportunity for Federal-Mogul Corp.
The Southfield-based auto supplier hopes a New York inventor's anti-glare technology will give it a wedge in the competitive business of headlight replacement.
Later this month, Federal-Mogul will begin selling glare-resistant "TruView" headlamps under the company's Wagner Lighting name.
The lights use a rare earth compound called neodymium oxide to filter out glare-producing yellow light. As a result, TruView headlights cast a pure-white beam more akin to daylight than the more common yellowish halogen lamps.
"It's truer, whiter light," said Brian Tarnacki, director of brand marketing at Federal-Mogul.
Neodymium oxide has been used for indoor lighting since the 1980s. Long Island, N.Y., inventor Daniel Karpen patented the neodymium technology for use in automotive headlights. After the compound is mined, he said, it can be refined and ground into glass before it is blown. The neodymium in the glass then filters out a portion of yellow light.
Karpen said the lights make road markings and signs pop out at night. Colors are more visible, and objects on the side of the road enter the driver's peripheral vision faster, he said.
"The neodymium-doped headlights will make other technology immediately obsolete."
Conventional halogen lights sell for less than $10 per bulb. The glare-resistant lights are set to retail for $14.99 per lamp, and have many of the same benefits as high-intensity discharge, or HID, headlights that have become popular on luxury models, Tarnacki said.
Optional HID systems range from several hundred dollars to $1,600 on models from Mercedes Benz and Lexus. The lamps are popular with their owners, but the intense glare they emit if viewed from the wrong angle has caused consternation among other motorists. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has logged thousands of complaints about HID glare.
Karpen said his technology can be used on rearview and side-view mirrors and can also be ground into windshields to reduce glare from oncoming traffic. There aren't any companies investing in those technologies yet, but the engineer said he is in discussion with several automakers and suppliers.
Lighting experts give Karpen's invention mixed reviews.
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., published research in 2001 that showed test subjects preferred neodymium lamps in side-by-side comparisons with halogen and HID lamps.
But John Van Derlofske, director of the institute's transportation lighting group, emphasized the study tested only the subjective preferences of the test participants. And there is little other research to back Karpen's claims on glare.
"We really have no idea how this might impact safety," Van Derlofske said. "It might help. We just don't know."
Tarnacki said he is confident that TruView will find a good market. Before deciding on the launch, Federal-Mogul conducted focus groups at night in Pontiac Silverdome's parking lot.
The TruView lights went over well with the test subjects on both visibility and glare. They were asked to rate their interest in the technology before and after the demonstration.
After the demonstration, Tarnacki said, "their interest went way up."
You can reach Jeff Plungis at (202) 662-7378 or snipped-for-privacy@detnews.com.
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