Where is Luminescent Body Panel Technology Headed?
Ford has been leading the way in innovation in recent weeks with announcing industry-first, as-standard carbon fiber wheels for the GT350R, and now has patented luminescent body panels and trim. In some of the very technical parts of the patent you can read that it is mostly being developed for trim pieces of the car, most likely to accentuate styling cues. In the figure above, the trim around the cockpit would be illuminated, adapting to the changeable color trim you can currently get for the interiors on some Ford products.
Having the lights go to the exterior panels won’t come without some difficulty, though. The D.O.T. is very good at keeping us from having fun and flexing our styling muscles, especially when it comes to parts of the car that light up, so it’s not like you’ll be able to bathe your entire car in neon lights any time soon. With LED lighting technology advancing rapidly, though, it is allowing designers to really open interpretations of traditional styling cues. Perhaps there are some forward-looking things one can imagine, like with the OLED technology featured below that Audi is working with, but for now, we’ll enjoy some light-up trim pieces.
Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>
Via: [MotorAuthority]
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