Every automaker goes to great lengths to promote their cars.
Sometimes, the resulting publicity stunts are nothing short of genius. Other times they’re cringeworthy.
But Mercedes’ latest publicity stunt is so visually stunning you might not see it at all.
That’s because Mercedes has created an invisible fuel-cell car.
As part of a one-week tour across Germany, visual effects specialists have covered once side of a B-Class F-Cell prototype car with flexible LED panels to form a giant screen.
Then, on the opposite side of the car, a Canon 5D camera captures live images which are then displayed on the giant LED screen, effectively turning the car almost invisible when viewed from the LED screen side.
The only giveaways? The very outline of the car is visible, as too are the wheels.
'Invisible' Hydrogen B-Class F-Cell
According to Mercedes, the idea for the invisible car comes from the F-Cell’s zero tailpipe emissions.
As mashable puts it, “Mercedes wanted to emphasize that its F-Cell vehicle has no omissions, making it virtually invisible to the environment.”
Unfortunately, Mercedes was only able to cover one side of the F-Cell to make it invisible. The other side is fully visible, along with its centrally-mounted professional camera gear.
Then again, we’re sure this is the first time we’ve ever seen an invisible car drive down the street.
And if Harry Potter has taught us anything, it’s that wearing an invisibility cloak can be very useful at times.
We want one.
+++++++++++
