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New Bond-inspired 'transparent' car projects

November 05, 2012 16:53 IST

Transparent carResearchers have developed a new 'see through' car akin to the remarkable vehicle used by Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond thriller Die Another Day.

The 'transparent' vehicle that projects the outside world on its interior has been created by the Japanese researchers.

The car is being designed to help drivers with parking, projecting a panoramic view of the area behind onto the rear seats, the Daily Mail reported.

Drivers who struggle to parallel park may find this invention particularly useful as the car appears transparent from the inside, allowing drivers to 'see through' the rear bodywork.

In the James Bond film Die Another Day, the spy's Aston Martin Vanquish is made invisible by replicating the background using a light-emitting polymer skin.

The feature, accompanied with automatic guns that pop-up from the bonnet cooling vents and spikes on the tyres, proves very useful during a chase with a Jaguar XK-R on the frozen lakes of Iceland.

However, this real device is a little less advanced. It works with the help of two cameras on the boot lid which capture a full view of the scene behind the car.

According to Sunday Times the images are combined by computer and reflected onto the seats to create the illusion that the back of the car is transparent when looked at from the driver's seat.

The manufacturer is said to be already working with the laboratory to put the technology into production, while making other parts of the car transparent as well.

This encompasses a prototype transparent door that would enable lorry drivers to see if a cyclist pulled up alongside them at a junction.

This could potentially prove extremely useful in reducing road deaths, the report said.

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