New Camouflage Film For Erlkönige

A Erlkönig is a car that is actually not on the market yet, but is already being tested on the streets. During these test drives, car manufacturers naturally want to avoid the form and design of the new vehicle becoming known before it is launched on the market. The foils used for this are used for optical illusion. Ford developed this technique further and designed a 3D film that was inspired by online illustrations. The film consists of thousands of seemingly randomly placed, black, gray and white cylinders in a complex cross pattern. Especially in daylight, it should be difficult to identify the essential design features of a new vehicle. Even selfies with the vehicles, as they are popular in social networks, will hardly be meaningful in future because of the new camouflage film.

"I tried to create a chaotic pattern that irritated the eyes," said Marco Porceddu, Vehicle Prototype Engineer, Product Development, Ford of Europe. "I dealt with optical illusions on the Internet and came up with a special shape that can be copied and overlapped a thousand times, creating a kind of 3D illusion."

This new camouflage irritates the brain

Ford designed the 3D vinyl film for extreme temperatures. With its black, gray and white tones, it is also well suited for the winter months in Europe, while the company in Australia tends to use sand-colored foils. The foils are tailor-made for the respective Erlkönig and are thinner than a human hair. The company first checks drafts on an internal test track to ensure the best camouflage.

"This camouflage irritates the brain and makes the vehicle shape, surfaces and colors almost unrecognizable," explains Martin Stevens, Associate Professor at the University of Exeter, who spent 15 years researching the color camouflage of animals. “The optical illusion does not prevent a car from being seen, but rather plays with the ability to recognize depth of field and shadow. This trick also occurs in nature.”

"Almost every one of us has a high-resolution smartphone with which the captured images of Erlkönigen can be shared on the Internet or elsewhere in a timely manner - this of course also benefits the competition," says Lars Mühlbauer, Manager, Camouflage, Ford of Europe. "We want to keep the design secret until the public presentation, which is easier with the film." (kj)