Mercedes's Invisible Car Is Tricky to Find in a Parking Lot

The power of invisibility is slowly inching closer. In the past few months for instance, scientists created invisibility cloaks made out of carbon or plasmonic metamaterial--cool, but complicated nonetheless. That is why you need to check out this awesome invisible car by Mercedes.

Okay, so the car isn't technically invisible. What Mercedes has done here is cover one side of its new F-Cell Hydrogen car with a sheet of colored LEDs, while on the other side mounted a Canon 5D Mark II camera for filming. It then gives pedestrians the effect of being able to see right through the car--a similar trick Ben Heck used for his Halloween Portal Shirt. Possibly a bit confusing if you happen to be another driver though.

As you can see, there is a slight limitation. The LED sheet isn't a very high resolution, particularly when the car is moving. On the flip side, this trick is most impressive when the car is still, then suddenly flashes bright colors to make its presence known.

The trick was filmed so Mercedes can make a point about its environmentally-friendly F-Cell car, which produces no nasty emissions (just water vapor). Thanks to the fuel-cell technology on board, the vehicle can turn hydrogen into the electricity needed to drive around 240 miles. However, there's only a limited number availble for testing right now, plus the car won't be ready for the consumer market until at least 2014.

Regardless of the availabilty of these eco-cars, the video puts across the emissions point perfectly, in a way that you're bound to enjoy. Check it out below:

[YouTube via Mashable]

Like this? You might also enjoy...

• Microsoft's 3D Transparent Interface Makes Us Feel Like We're Living in the Future
• Photoshop CS6 Will Blur Your Images to Fake a Shallow Depth of Field
• Flying Robots Perform James Bond Theme, Q Would Be Impressed

Get more GeekTech: Twitter - Facebook - RSS | Tip us off