Kind of just a fun thought when thinking of Automotive future:

[87 Turbo II]

Ok, I was discussing in a thread about pop-up headlights and if we would ever see them return (the answer is a big NO for many many many reasons) but in the discussion I made a post highlighting kind of an interesting idea. I really hope to live to see this come to be a common design on road cars but without further a due, here it is(it starts and ends where the red lines are):

---What I would love to see in the future is bodywork that appears solid and flush when the headlights are off, then light just shines through magically where there is either a blank, body colored panel, or it just comes even more magically out of a continuous bumper surface. Mazda did this with a concept car, although I need to look into which one and how they pulled it off.

It's possible in 3 different ways(I can think of).

1) tons of tiny laser drilled holes. So small, that when there is no backlighting, the material looks solid, they're too small for water or dust to enter in to, but light can seep through them, at the cost of being dimmed a good bit. (who knows, future lights might be super-crazy-bright and make this possible to still light the road). If light diffusion is still possible to achieve a proper beam pattern, the holes could be backed by tiny lenses that keep the assembly sealed off, and projecting properly. The Macbook Pro by Apple Computers has this technology in the sleep/wake light.
(off)

(on)


2) Electro-transparent glass. A clear panel with electronic transparency only with some improvements to what is currently possible with the technology so that it can appear body colored and solid when not active. A current use of this technology is in the Maybach's panoramic sunroof. It can be made opaque so that the glass turns a solid foggy white to act as a sunshade, or clear on a day when you want to see through it.

3) Fiber optic cables. If all else fails, semi-fine fiber optic cables can be routed to a powerful bulb hidden inside/underneath the bodywork and then up to the body work where it is cut flush. If one got close to the bodywork, they could see the individual fiber optic cable ends, but they would be clear when off, quite small, and spaced in a way that it's not too obvious they make up a light fixture. They could be further hidden when inactive by having the end that is routed to the powerful bulb move over on a track system away from a bulb and in front of a body colored piece of material inside the bumper when the car is off(or have a small body-colored "flap" or something cover up the bulb). So that when you look at the exposed ends on the outside of the bumper, the cables are carrying body colored light to the surface.

EDIT: The earlier mentioned Mazda concept that actually emits light from the body uses it for the turn signals. Here is all I could find on how it works:

"The edges of the blades that comprise the grille are fitted with ultra-fine rows of brilliant LEDs. The rear combination lamps and door-mounted turn signal lamps employ unique Mazda technology and appear to shine through the body color but are distinguishable only when lit. The effect throughout creates the illusion of flowing air being transformed into lights visible to the human eye."

It can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTqGMK8JVZc

My point is Mazda has this technology, I want to see it in the next 10 years on the road.---

Anyone on here have any other fun futuristic ideas we might see? Or other ways the above idea could be achieved?