See the World at CES 2025: Next-Gen Sensor Tech That Wowed Us

Our increasingly autonomous future is entirely dependent on vehicles being able to sense their environment, and at CES 2025 there were a few new technologies aiming to advance vehicular acuity—both outside and within the cabin.

Voyant Bargain FMCW Lidar

Normal lidar works a lot like radar, but with light. You send pulses out, measure the time it takes them to return, and you get a point cloud based on each photon’s (or radio wave’s) time of flight. We’ve covered a fancier version of lidar from SiLC at previous CES events that works differently. It sends out a continuous wave of light, modulating its frequency (hence frequency-modulated continuous wave, or FMCW).

Now in addition to knowing where things are, the vehicle also knows whether, how fast, and in what direction they might be moving. SiLC’s technology subdivided its laser beam, sending half down a coiled light pipe that took up some space. Voyant has figured out a way to do all of this on a tiny chip, leveraging affordable CMOS camera technology but replacing transistors with optics, lasers, and on-chip beam steering.

Benefits are similar: immunity from interference caused by other laser emitters and not being blinded by shiny objects. Pricing is expected to be one-tenth that of other FMCW competitors. Claimed range is well short of SiLC’s at 650 feet to a dark target 1,650 to a bright one, but both provide much richer information about said target. Development kits are available and Voyant hopes to land an OE production contract in 2026.

Gentex e-Zapper for Sensor Cleaning

Moisture really fouls the visibility of any camera or lidar sensor, and we’ve covered various fluid approaches to cleaning them. But Gentex has a purely electrical method of clearing water. Referred to as ElectroWetting, it involves a network of invisible electrodes arranged like interlaced fingers. Applying high-voltage low-current electrical potential across these fingers “walks the water down the lens” (and hopefully they take some dirt with them). This approach is said to be more effective than similar electric only approaches like piezo vibration of the lens. This tech is still in its concept phase.

Continental Banishes Ugly Ultrasonics

With forward-collision warning and automatic-emergency braking regulations coming that will require forward looking radar, Continental showed off a concept using three forward-looking radar units, each with a 75-degree field of view, that can replace five ultrasonic parking sensors (each with a 60-degree field of view). Conti’s radar units can be switched from long-range lower resolution to short-range high resolution depending on speed (dithering between modes at lower transition speeds). Anything to remove those ugly parking warts is a win in our book.

State of the Drunk-Driver Detection Art: Continental Finger BAC Sensor

Imagine a finger-print detector engine-start button that also leverages spectroscopy technology similar to that used in fingertip blood-oxygen level sensors. They light into the finger and measure what’s reflected back, searching for one of the two discrete wavelengths associated with the presence of alcohol. It takes multiple readings in a few seconds.

State of the Drunk-Driver Detection Art: CorrActions NeuroMonitor

Israel-based neuroscience startup, CorrActions reckons it can infer a driver’s fitness and state of mind based largely on how their motor cortex directs their fine motor skills. In its simplest form, it monitors motions of the steering wheel via the existing steering sensors, making this potentially a purely software-defined feature. Yes, while my Ford Lightning couldn’t tell my hands were on the wheel at all, CorrActions reckons it can tell if I’m drunk, drowsy, distracted, or a few other conditions purely by monitoring the micromotions of my steering-wheel inputs. Obviously, the fidelity of the inference improves if CorrActions can tap into other sensors—like infrared camera point-cloud sensors that can also measure heart and respiration rates. The system will be implemented in Europe in 2026 (whereupon it is expected to earn 2 Euro NCAP points (16 percent of the total available for driver monitoring).

Using 360-Degree Cameras for Gesture Control

Finally, Mitsubishi Electric’s FlexConnect group demonstrated a system whereby a vehicle’s 360-degree camera system could be used to sense gestures to control things like hatch opening and closing, door lock/unlock, etc. In the demo, when the owner’s face was recognized, signing “one-two” with the fingers opened the hatch, while “two-one” closed it. Commands can be assigned to open palm and fist as well. This software solution could potentially eliminate hardware like the kick sensor.