Toyota patent reveals 'cloaking device' for cars
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Did Toyota hire any aliens recently?
Strong evidence supporting that ridiculous notion comes in the form of a patent application the automaker has filed for a ‘cloaking device’ -- the term a tip of the hat to a technology featured in ‘Star Trek’ on Romulan and Klingon starships.
Although it’s not intended to make an entire car disappear, the patent describes a system that would render the roof pillars of a car virtually invisible, providing an unobstructed 360-degree view for the driver.
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The idea is to wrap a pillar in a series of mirrored and opaque surfaces that directs the light around it, resolving with a clear image that the occupants of the vehicle can see.
Other outfits have suggested electronic means to a similar end. Most notably Jaguar Land Rover, which envisions installing cameras on the outside of the pillar to feed an image to a display embedded on the inside.
Toyota’s idea is much simpler and presumably cheaper than that, or the use of futuristic meta-materials to channel light around obstructions, which has also been proposed.
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As with many patent applications, however, there’s no telling if this idea will ever make it into production.
However, with all of the research aimed at developing see-through roof pillars, it’s looking more and more likely that we’ll see a car with some version of them on day.
Maybe even before the 23rd century.