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From Concept To Reality: 6 Smart Car Technologies Every Geek Would Love To See In The Future


There was a time when driving was just that – driving. All you had to do was step into the driver's seat, turn on the ignition and move from start point to destination. That was the sole purpose of a vehicle; to move a person from point A to point B.

Then as advancements in technology began to take over the world, innovations that were probably thought impossible were gradually introduced into our world. The drive to make inventions better, faster, more efficient, easier to use became the order of the day.

This naturally passed on into the automobile industry as well. I am convinced that even Henry Ford, if he were alive today, would marvel at the astronomical advancements that the industry has made.
And yet there is a nagging feeling that this is just the beginning.

Automobile companies such as Toyota, Nissan and Jaguar have in the recent past developed technology for the automobile industry, most of which is still considered ahead of its time. For now, a lot of these ideas are bottled up in concept cars and limited edition vehicle models and that will suffice – for now.

But as the demand for overall better driving experience grows, a lot of these ideas will have to enter the commercial vehicle scene. Make no mistake about it, this will alter the way we do things significantly.

So are you a speedster who loves to feel the wind in your hair while you ride with the top down? Are you a tech geek who is more interested in the features of the vehicle than the actual driving?
Here are some tech advancements in the auto industry that I am sure we would all like to see – and probably might – in the not too distant future.

1. Self-healing paint

Imagine you are trying to navigate your way into a tight parking space when another driver cuts in front of you to take the spot, grazing your car in the process.

You step out to confront him about it and after a few minutes of heated verbal exchange you invite him to come inspect the car accident he had almost caused. And what do you see? Nothing! Not a scratch!

That is actually good news, regardless of the embarrassment you must be feeling at that moment.
What if there was a technology that could make surface marks and scratches on your vehicle disappear? Well, there is – just not in consumer cars yet.

This is a really cool technology; scratches on your car heal themselves in a few minutes and the car looks as good as new.

Well, almost as good as new. In reality, scratches that go deeper than the surface are not 100% healed. Some of them will still be visible if you look really hard but you certainly will not notice the difference when viewing from a distance.

2. Camouflage paint

I am sure many of us have a favorite color while some others just cannot seem to pick one color over the other. They want every color in every shade, brightness and contrast setting of your choice.
Now imagine a vehicle that can do just that; change to any color you choose. There would have to be a control on the dashboard of the vehicle to allow you choose from a wealth of color options.It could go a step further to enable you mix colors and to suggest colors for you depending on what time of the day it is.

Generally, it would suggest darker colors in the day to offset the harshness/brightness in the daytime. And lighter colors at night to optimize your vehicles' visibility. That last one is indirectly a safety future and that is really cool if you ask me.

3. Perfect maneuverability

Being the owner of a high end 6m long, luxury sedan does not seem you somehow get to live 'above traffic problems'. If I get stuck in traffic with my mini-cooper you can be assured that you will too. Heck, I would have a better chance at maneuvering my tiny cooper out of traffic than you will with your six feet long behemoth of a vehicle.

This is a very obvious problem with most luxury cars. They are big, imposing and often find it difficult to navigate through spaces. Rolls Royce is working to make sure that this is a non-issue in the not too distant future.

Enter the futuristic 2030 Rolls Royce Eidolon concept car. This concepts car dispels the problem of maneverablilty in cars without having to reduce its size. It does this with the omni wheel technology.

With this technology, your luxury car will be able to make a turn on a radius much smaller than the standard 11m for sedans. It would be able to make a turn on a dime is what I am saying.
This technology basically offers the freedom of movement of the car in any direction.

4. Autonomous driving system

Another feature the above mentioned Rolls Royce concept car offers is the autonomous driving technology. In truth this is not really a new idea; it has been around for a while but just as an idea.
A car with complete autonomous driving system will only require you to get in and take a seat. The vehicle does the rest. I can imagine very busy Fortune 500 CEOs and Wall Street veterans going for this feature. They will be able to get a lot of work done in this kind of car because they will not have to worry about the actual driving.

A self-driving car might be ahead of its time now, but the future does hold a lot of promise for this technology.However, I doubt that there will ever be a completely autonomous car without the option for a passenger to take control. This will mean that in the case of an accident, the liability will fall on the manufacturer.

5. Body panel batteries

If you've ever owned an electric vehicle, then you should know how how heavy and bulky the batteries are. The size and number of batteries an electric needs poses a problem for the design group of any auto manufacturing company.

They have the task of ensuring that the batteries are kept in a suitable place while maintaining a perfect balance throughout the length of the car.

So think of this. What if there was technology that could create more space for passenger and cargo by hiding the batteries in plain sight.

I am talking of sheet thin batteries. I am asking what if the body panels of the car on both the interior and exterior were the batteries themselves.

The batteries, since they are the body panels of the car would be sheet thin and bendable. This means that manufacturers would no longer have to compromise on the structure of the car. Technologically, we are still a ways from this but it is definitely something that I, for one would be looking forward to.

6. Pure oxygen emissions

Environmentalists would absolutely love this one. No carbon emissions, just pure oxygen. Sadly, this one is extra futuristic. Funny to think that in the future cars will join in the battle against global warming.

Cars without carbon emissions automatically translate to availability of fresher air to breathe. Mercedes Biome, an upcoming natural smart car technology is already looking into the possibility of having such vehicles by say 2050. This is one I think every car owner will appreciate, regardless of what you drive.