Windshield wipers are a necessity. Not only does the National Highway and Safety Administration demand that vehicles have them, but they come in handy when combating harsh weather, bugs, and any other flying fragments encountered while driving.
Windshield wipers are pretty important.
Now, imagine no more windshield wipers scratching across the glass, no more replacement wipers, and better visibility.
A representative from McLaren, the U.K.-based automotive company well-known for its innovative sports cars, has recently hinted at the possibility of making this a reality in an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times.
From the interview, it appears that McLaren is building on a system used in fighter jets that would use ultrasound to send 30-kHz waves across a windshield and create something of a force field around the glass. This force field would be able to keep water, insects, and other debris from reaching the windshield, but no further details are released about the technology.
The U.K. Sunday Times refers to the technology as high-frequency sound waves “similar to those used by dentists for removing plaque from teeth.”
Materials would never even get to touch the glass and there would be nothing to wipe away.
Visibility could potentially be improved by such technology and according to the McLaren interview, “removing wipers could improve cars’ fuel economy by eliminating the weight of wiper motors and streamlining the windscreen.”
A McLaren car with windshield wipers.
Although this is a possibility in the future, an e-mail to Business Insider from a McLaren spokesperson revealed that force-field windshields are “just an idea at this stage with no confirmed date of introduction.”
At least they aren't ruling it out.
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