The last time Keio University was in the news it was for a prototype wearable cloaking device developed by a team of researchers at the school. A decade later you still can’t go out and buy one, but the research has inspired another brilliant use for the technology — invisible car interiors that let you see everything outside when backing up.
Imagine parallel parking into a space and knowing exactly how far your bumper is from the vehicle behind you. It’s a dream that rear-view cameras and in-dash displays have only marginally delivered on. But this technology promises to turn a vehicle’s entire back seat into a giant display showing everything happening behind the vehicle in full scale. So when you turn around in your seat to back up, it will basically look like the back half of your vehicle has been lopped off.
There are no specifics on how the setup works just yet, as the modified Prius is set to be first shown at the upcoming 2012 Digital Content Expo in Tokyo. Hopefully it won’t blind back-seat passengers with an ultra-bright projector-although honestly that might be a small price to pay to for a see-through trunk. [Keio University via CNET]