SynUS Design: Technology
 Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company |
One of the most innovative and high-tech features of the SynUS is housed in the tailgate: a 45-inch, flat-screen, high-definition LCD monitor equipped with wireless networking. The massive Sharp monitor takes up the entire space where a back window would have gone. According to Ford, this is the biggest monitor to grace any passenger vehicle, concept or otherwise. With the monitor, passengers can surf the Internet (on a WiFi laptop), watch a movie, play a video game or keep tabs on the outside world via several cameras mounted outside the car.
 Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company |
Occupants can even see what's going on outside while the protective shutters are closed. Thanks to the truck's high-tech surveillance system, the rearview mirror is no ordinary mirror. Instead of reflecting an image through the rear window (which the SynUS does not have), the "mirror" actually projects a high-definition, closed-circuit image of a camera's-eye view from behind the car.
The SynUS is just a concept car at this point. Ford has no plans to start production on it any time soon. The designers admit that the Brinks-truck design and exaggerated security features are over the top, but they were trying to prove that a small car could also be tough.
Mission accomplished.
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