Express Yourself With Your Car

Someday you may be able to buy a car that “smiles” or”frowns,” meaning you’ll no longer feel the need to makenasty gestures to other drivers.

Sabra Chartrand writes in The New York Times that Toyota isdeveloping a car that can glare angrily at another car aswell as appear to cry, laugh or wink. Kenji Mori, NaotoKitagawa, Akihiro Inukai and Simon Humprhies have designed acar with an antenna that wags, a body height that raises andlowers, headlights that vary in intensity, and hood slitsand ornamentation designed to look like eyebrows, eyelidsand tears, all of which can glow with colored lights toexpress different emotions.

They say that “as traffic grows heavier and vehicle useincreases, vehicles having expression functions, such ascrying and laughing, like people and other animals do, couldcreate a joyful, organic atmosphere rather than the simplecomings and goings of inorganic vehicles. Such emotive,organic vehicles could also lead occupants to have greataffinity for their vehicles, and make the driving experiencemore comfortable.

“The headlights, antenna and windshield and exterior panelscan be regarded as the vehicle’s eyes, tail and a bodysurface.” A “sleeping” car will have “the shutters, or eyes,closed, the antenna limp and the glass and exterior panelare a dark color and the vehicle height is lowered.” An”awake” car will have “open shutters, headlights fringedwith complementary ‘eyebrows,’ an erect antenna and brighterglass and exterior panels.”

The question is: will this work as well as leaning on the horn?

For centuries an idea has existed that there once was alanguage, or a particular word, which perfectly expressedthe nature of things. This language, called theLanguageof the Birds, was spoken in the Garden of Eden, but waslost. Now William Henry has discovered it again. StartingSaturday, July 31st, order this or any otherWilliamHenry book and receive a free Stargate DVD. And don’t missWilliam’s interview with Richard Hoagland on this week’sDreamland.

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