The usual flat side mirror not only allows you to maintain estimate the distance to walking behind cars, but also has an extremely narrow field of view. Moving slightly behind and to the side, the other car will be in a "dead zone" and is not visible to the driver.
If the mirror simply bend, seeking extension of the review, it will significantly distort the picture and make objects smaller and farther away than in reality.
Mirror, the form of which invented and patented a mathematics professor Andrew Hicks, has a large field of view and at the same time shows the image with minimal distortion. His review reaches 45 degrees - in 2-3 times more current mirrors. Distortion is arising because of its unusual shape, almost invisible to the eye: straight lines and remain straight.
Speaking of its development, Hicks explains: "Suppose that the mirror surface is composed of a plurality of small reflective surfaces, each of which is rotated a certain angle a calculated". Together they create a picture of a very wide view and minimal distortion. It is, perhaps, to say that the picture does not look ragged: mirrors are so small that their number in the tens of thousands, and his eyes are almost invisible.
In May, the development has already received an official patent, however, the introduction of such a useful new items while facing bureaucratic complexities. The fact that under U.S. law to each vehicle mass production must have a flat mirror to the driver. On the passenger side, it can be bent, but then must be accompanied by all the well-known phrase - "Objects seen in the mirror are closer than they appear» (Objects in mirror are closer than they appear).
Here's an unusual invention. I think that it takes a lot of time and a mirror can be purchased in the store. After all, now you can buy almost anything from a pin to a jet plane.
__________________________________________________________