Are colour changing cars in our future?

When (now) classics Back to the Future and its much-anticipated sequel hit our screens in 1985 and 1989 (yes, it was that long ago!), it got us all imagining what the future might look like.

While time-travelling cars and hover boards haven’t quite come to fruition yet, many of the film’s predictions have: voice-activated tech, wall-mounted flat-screen TVs, mobile card readers and power-laced Nike sneakers, to name a few. Unfortunately, we may have some time to wait until flux capacitor-like-tech is invented, though.

That being said, technology has made huge strides. A rover is now exploring Mars with a view that there might be civilisation there one day, a robotic skeleton can help people with spinal cord injuries to walk again and we can listen to music and get answers to some of life’s most pressing questions within seconds thanks to Alexa. This would blow Doc and Marty’s minds!

When it comes to cars, self-driving ones are now a thing and the number of electric cars on our roads is growing by the day. We’ve swapped car keys for smart fobs and paper maps for in-built sat navs, although they can’t always keep up with new home and road developments. We’re also all switching off the radio more often in favour of streaming music and podcasts on our road trips.

So, what about the technology of the future? What do you think is next for tech when it comes to your car, home and even your pet? Could colour changing cars be a thing? Test your tech knowledge to see what you know and believe!

Here is a snapshot of some quick juicy tech facts relating to the automotive world to get you thinking:

Colour changing cars…

This tech seems to be a very long way off at-the-moment. The closest thing currently is called ‘electroluminescent paint’ which is a light-emitting coating which can turn any surface, such as the body of a vehicle, into a light. This means that the paint system changes colour when an electrical current pass through it, causing it to emit light. 

Cars with button-free dashboards…

While still a few years away, speech recognition company, Cerence, is in the process of creating a system that will mean no physical switches by offering a dash that requires a mix of speech commands, eye tracking and gesture only to control a car.

5G tech to boost car obstacle awareness…

A new system called cellular vehicle to everything will allow 5G to allow our cars to check for obstacles around us – from other cars, bikes or pedestrians. We’ll have to wait until 2022 for this one to be available in cars though!