Raising An Eyebrow

This is both strange but true.

The Eyebrow Auto Brake—a car braking system operated by the driver’s eyebrows—featured in Popular Mechanics magazine, 1965.

It is not a real safety system.  Rather, it is a tongue-in-cheek illustration of a car that braked when the driver raised their eyebrows.  The idea played on the notion that drivers instinctively widen their eyes (and lift eyebrows) in moments of surprise or danger.  Sensors were humorously depicted as detecting eyebrow movement and triggering the brakes.

Mid-1960s Popular Mechanics occasionally published April-Fools-style concepts and speculative futurism.  Naturally,these columns appeared during an era when:  Power brakes were still not universal, seat belts were controversial and real automated safety systems were a figment of most people's imagination.

Fast forward to today - six decades later - and safety technology commonly found in today's vehicles.  Including but not limited to:

Seat and shoulder belts, anti-lock brakes, airbags, crumple zones with passenger cabin safety cages, traction control, rear-view camera, adaptive cruise control, speed limit recognition, automatic high beams, electronic stability control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors - including autonomous parking, automatic reverse braking, lane departure warning and lane-keeping assistance, forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, intersection collision detection with evasive steering assist and 360 degree camera systems.

And let's not forget the eyebrows; there is driver attention and drowsiness monitoring too.  If my eyes wander for only a second too long my daily drive issues a visual and audible warning.  Don't think about this very hard - this technology is going to keep older drivers on the road; longer and safer than ever before.

Popular Mechanics may have been pulling someone's leg in 1965 yet they were prescient.