Software Defined Vehicles
Interview with Mathias Rönnfeldt, SP3
“Light must be developed and conceived holistically”
Digital LEDs and ILaS transform vehicle lighting into a connected, intelligent system. SP3 expert Mathias Rönnfeldt explains how design, electronics, and software merge into dynamic, emotional lighting systems of the next generation.
After positions as Technical Director at Lightworks and Director Engineering Lighting EMEA at Yanfeng, Mathias Rönnfeldt is now Managing Director of SP3. His work focuses on the integration of optics, electronics, software, and materials, with the aim of designing light as a holistic, intelligent medium.
At the upcoming ISELED conference, Rönnfeldt will discuss the opportunities and challenges of the next generation of lighting systems, the growing role of AI, and how design visions and technological feasibility can be aligned. Ahead of the event, we asked him three questions.
ADT: Digital LEDs and ILaS are redefining automotive interior lighting. What technological breakthroughs or limitations do you think will define the next five years?
Rönnfeldt: Interior lighting in cars is currently transforming from decentralised, static light sources to a connected system of intelligent light modules that create a holistic, immersive user experience through sensor fusion, data networking, and algorithms. It thus becomes an integral part of the digital user experience and a novel interaction channel between humans and vehicles. Technologically, the smart control of LEDs and the associated bus communication will particularly shape the coming years. For the first time, they enable targeted and real-time control of connected light sources - a decisive step towards dynamic, context-dependent lighting scenarios. Combined with AI-based light scene generation, which interprets real-time data such as weather, geo, vehicle, or vital data, a completely new level of individualisation and emotionality emerges. The real challenges lie less in the hardware and more in system integration and vehicle architecture: as design, materials, electronics, and software work ever more closely together, complexity increases enormously. It will be crucial for OEMs and suppliers to bring together lighting system knowledge, software expertise, and agile development processes early on - then light will be far more than just illumination in the future: an emotional, adaptive interaction medium.
You bring experience from mass production development at Yanfeng and now work at SP3 focusing on prototypes and small series. How does this dual perspective influence your work in vehicle lighting?
This dual perspective is extremely valuable for my daily work. In mass production projects, I learned how to make lighting systems industrialisable, process-secure, and cost-stable - focusing on robustness, manufacturing tolerances, and quality assurance. At SP3, however, development activities often start in an earlier, more design-oriented environment. We rethink lighting systems from the ground up, combining materials, optics, electronics, and software in innovative ways to create functional demonstrators that show what is technologically possible today. We keep aspects of industrialisation in mind from the early stages and advise our international clients on series implementation. This experience from both worlds helps me to connect vision and feasibility at an early stage. We translate creative lighting ideas into feasible solutions, helping to align design ambitions and series requirements. This makes SP3 an ideal bridge builder and communicator between OEM design studios, technical development departments, and manufacturing partners.
At the upcoming ISELED conference, you will be discussing, among other things, how design ambitions can be aligned with technological feasibility. What key messages would you like to highlight?
My core message is: future-proof and attractive lighting systems are created where design, technology, and data speak a common language. We are currently witnessing the boundaries between decorative and functional lighting blur. Hybrid lighting systems increasingly integrate aesthetic, ergonomic, and communicative functions into one component. This shifts the focus: lighting must not only be designed but developed and conceived holistically. It is crucial that design, material development, electronics, and software are brought together early in the process. Only in this way can ambitious design visions be technically implemented without compromising on quality, homogeneity, or colour fidelity. With technologies like ILaS, AI-based light control, and data-driven design, we create new opportunities to unite emotions, context, and functions. This transforms light into a medium of interaction and brand identity - a central element in the vehicle experience space.
