German chemicals and pharmaceuticals producer Merck KGaA is participating in a new €2 million project sponsored by the country's research ministry, aimed at developing a fully adaptive automobile headlight system that will allow lighting to adapt seamlessly to specific driving conditions.

For the R&D program called Photonics Research Germany, Merck is supplying special liquid crystals as the foundation for the system. The company is the world's largest producer of liquid crystals.

The potential range of applications for the intelligent headlight includes motor vehicles but individual components of the project can be used in other branches of industry, the research partners said.