Car manufacturer Ford wraps its prototype cars in patterned vinyl stickers to prevent designs of new cars being leaked before release.
The patterned vinyl stickers feature black and white dots that create an optical illusion. This prevents 'spy photographers' from capturing details of the new car's design.
Car spy photography is big business, with Web sites dedicated to it like autoevolution.com and autoguide.com. These images are taken during mandatory testing on public roads.
"No industry is as challenged with keeping its new products under wraps as automakers, which must test their vehicles on public roads," said Ford in a statement. "For years, Ford has been locked in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse with spy photographers - trying to keep its vehicles a secret until it's time to show them to the world."
The vinyl stickers use patterns that trick the eye and hide the body lines of the car. Photographs of these cladded cars are obscured because cameras can't focus. To further mislead spies, the shape of a vehicle can be changed using faux body panels under the stickers.
Camouflage has become increasingly important in recent years as more people carry around high-quality cameras in their pockets, in the form of a smartphone.
Autoevolution.com explains it gets 'spy shots' from "specialised spy photographers who travel the world to capture prototypes testing in the wild. Carmakers do not like this practice, but there's not much they can do about it in today's world, when access to camera technology is widespread and testing prototypes in real-world conditions is a must."
Ford says the stakes are particularly high for it.
"While design is the fourth most important reason for purchase in the automotive industry overall, it's number two only behind fuel economy for Ford," says Dave Fish, senior VP, expert services at MaritzCX, which conducts the New Vehicle Customer Study. "It's not surprising Ford goes to extraordinary lengths to try to keep the wraps on its designs as long as possible."
Previously, car manufacturers would use heavy black vinyl covers to hide a vehicle. This changed the aerodynamics of the car and was not appropriate for all types of testing.
Ford is not the only car company to make use of this technique. However, Ford's stickers are universal, cheaper and quicker to install than stickers used by other car manufacturers.
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