Gallery: How This Magic Machine Tricks You Into Seeing Any Car It Wants

  • Image may contain Car Automobile Vehicle Transportation Road Dirt Road Gravel and Sports Car
    The Mill
    01

    shapeshiftcar4.jpg

    The Mill uses motion capture techniques to place a realistic body over the Blackbird’s frame.
  • Image may contain Tire Wheel Machine Spoke Alloy Wheel Car Wheel Car Transportation Vehicle and Automobile
    The Mill
    02

    shapeshiftcar8.jpg

    The next time you see a car on screen, in a commercial, movie, or TV show, it may just be a digital animation.
  • Image may contain Transportation Vehicle Automobile Car Tire Wheel Machine Spoke Alloy Wheel and Car Wheel
    The Mill
    03

    shapeshiftcar7.jpg

    The Blackbird can change its chassis shape to match anything from a Fiat 500 to a limousine.
  • Image may contain Wheel Machine Vehicle Car Transportation Automobile Buggy Tire Outdoors and Nature
    The Mill
    04

    shapeshiftcar1.jpg

    Any number of car models can be digitally added to the Blackbird's chassis.
  • Image may contain Wheel Machine Vehicle Transportation Automobile Car Buggy Sports Car and Tire
    The Mill
    05

    shapeshiftcar2.jpg

    The Blackbird has only one seat for the driver.
  • Image may contain Wheel Machine Tire Spoke Alloy Wheel Car Wheel Transportation Vehicle Automobile and Car
    The Mill
    06

    shapeshiftcar3.jpg

    Directors just have to put the right wheels on (it accepts lug patterns from any manufacturer), then have a stunt driver race, wheelspin, or flick the rear end out as they pass the camera, just as they would in a normal car.
  • Image may contain Wheel and Machine
    The Mill
    07

    shapeshiftcar6.jpg

    The Mill can program its electric motors to make it behave like the car’s it’s emulating—slow or fast acceleration, gear change lurches, front or rear wheel drive.
  • Image may contain Vehicle Transportation Automobile Car Tire Wheel Machine Spoke Car Wheel and Alloy Wheel
    The Mill
    08

    shapeshiftcar5.jpg

    For extra authenticity, the Blackbird carries a suite of cameras and LIDAR sensors that capture a picture of the world around it.
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