Toyota Patents Cloaking Device for Cars

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monkeymagick

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Toyota has acquired a patent for the use of a cloaking device on their vehicles. Now that may sound crazy or even dangerous, but it is help turn the pillars inside cars transparent and eliminating blindspots. Although, the patent is only for the left and right A-pillar giving drivers a wider view of the road and pedestrians in front. Maybe they'll develop tech for the B and C pillars next as rear-view cameras are still terrible under certain conditions.

Check out the filing here.

Making things "invisible" is all about manipulating light. The other invisibility technologies currently being developed do the same thing, albeit using different methods or materials. For instance, researchers from the Max Planck Institute are working on mimicking the biology of moths' eyes to turn lenses and glass invisible. Meanwhile, a group from the University of California, San Diego is controlling how light reflects on objects using a thin "carpet cloak" made form Teflon and ceramic particles.
 
Oh boy an elaborate passive optical or active digital A-pillar. That wont be a cleaning/maintenance/repair nightmare...
 
I remember a show. It was either History or Military Channel. It spoke of an experimental cloaking device which was just a large blank woven with optical wires. Basically light enters the fibers on one side of the object travel around the object and exit on the other side. At long range, it was not visually detected by the human eye of those involved. As it got closer, it appeared as a transparent then translucent blur. A noticeable distortion


The advantage, compared to Star Trek, is that in order to fire, the veil had to be lifted from just the exit point of a weapon instead of the whole vehicle.
 
Clickbait title would have been more accurate to say "Toyota develops Transparent Aluminum" and just as click baity.
 
travisty said:
Oh boy just in time for it to be completely deprecated by automated driving!
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Anyone like me, use the A and B pillars, and other "odd" markings and protrusions, to help keep my car positioned in my lane properly?

The B and C pillars are so bad on my Challenger, the blind spot is like bigger than Texas. But I have these awesome sensors that work far better and instead of having to look over my shoulder to check blind spots I just have to glance to the side mirrors, meaning less time looking away from where I am going.

Great tech looking for a better use case.
 
lcpiper said:
Anyone like me, use the A and B pillars, and other "odd" markings and protrusions, to help keep my car positioned in my lane properly?

The B and C pillars are so bad on my Challenger, the blind spot is like bigger than Texas. But I have these awesome sensors that work far better and instead of having to look over my shoulder to check blind spots I just have to glance to the side mirrors, meaning less time looking away from where I am going.

Great tech looking for a better use case.
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Those must be some big ass side mirrors on your Challenger. Most SUVs these days have huge blind spots due to beefy B and C pillars, but the side mirrors are not sufficient to completely compensate. Most people don't position their mirrors properly anyways. I'm all for anything that will improve visibility in cars, as long as it doesn't weaken the frame.
 
PaulP said:
Those must be some big ass side mirrors on your Challenger. Most SUVs these days have huge blind spots due to beefy B and C pillars, but the side mirrors are not sufficient to completely compensate. Most people don't position their mirrors properly anyways. I'm all for anything that will improve visibility in cars, as long as it doesn't weaken the frame.
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Don't worry, you'll get your wish. Some bureaucrat will keep increasing safety regs until the only way to meet them is a $20,000 car with no windows and a $15,000 virtual cockpit.
 
PaulP said:
Those must be some big ass side mirrors on your Challenger. Most SUVs these days have huge blind spots due to beefy B and C pillars, but the side mirrors are not sufficient to completely compensate. Most people don't position their mirrors properly anyways. I'm all for anything that will improve visibility in cars, as long as it doesn't weaken the frame.
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No, I said the car has sensors, when a car is in my blind spot, a light is lit in the mirror so I know there is a car back there that I can't see with the mirror ;)
 
I think I saw a news article about something similar from Landrover / Rangerover that made the front of the car transparent so you could take the vehicle rock climbing and see the rock / hill approach angles under the front of the car.
 
I think our news reporters are slipping. Obviously, creating invisible cars is so autonomous cars can better sneak up on and KILL US ALL
 
lcpiper said:
No, I said the car has sensors, when a car is in my blind spot, a light is lit in the mirror so I know there is a car back there that I can't see with the mirror ;)
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OK. Sensors are nice, but I still prefer to see what's around me. Gives me much better situational awareness. AFAIC, the sensors are just emergency backups, like ABS.
 
PaulP said:
OK. Sensors are nice, but I still prefer to see what's around me. Gives me much better situational awareness. AFAIC, the sensors are just emergency backups, like ABS.
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Then I would stay clear of the Challenger, the Charger is much easier to cover the blind spot visually.

But I must admit, I love it. I've had the car two years now and I have never doubted the effectiveness of the sensor system. I've never had anyone honk at me like I am cutting them off or scaring them.

What's more, it has a cross path detection system that just rocks. Say I am parked in a grocery store parking lot and going to back out of the space. I put the car into reverse and if anything is moving around back there the system beeps at me and let's me know, I check the camera and sometimes it's someone with a cart, or just someone walking, or sometimes the camera is clear so then I am looking around trying to see what's making the car freak out, sure enough, here comes a car down the lane. My car spotted it and started warning me long before it was close enough to even be a threat really.

I don't trust the system completely, but I do trust that it's working to help me out and to cover much of what I just can't see.

My wife's Honda Pilot is older and has none of these features but when she replaces her Pilot she's getting these safety systems on her next one, I will insist.
 
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