Meet the car that can show its feelings

Wednesday 05 May

A new concept car that’s able to change shape, opacity and communicate with other drivers using emoticons has been unveiled. The EKON coupe has been dreamt up by German designer Thomas Pinel and uses its rear bumper to communicate a series of moods to other drivers and pedestrians.

There’s electro-chromatic glass that changes opacity at the touch of a fingerprint sensor when you want a bit more privacy, while the emoticons displayed on its rear bumper are hoped to help prevent road rage by allowing others on the road to know exactly what’s on the driver’s mind.

The emotions range from a playful “LOL”, to “surprise” and “nervousness” right though to “frustration”. There’s no emoticon for “murderous rage”, so it’s obviously not been built with London driving in mind.

The EKON is still a concept at the moment, but we’d love to see it emote its way into reality.