Headlights Mitsubishi

Researchers study 'personality traits' of cars

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The butterfly decals on the front bumper, flowers in the dashboard vase and lime-rural paint job only confirmed Dennis Slice's perception of a Volkswagen Beetle parked in a lot at Florida Declare University.

Slice, a shape analysis researcher, said the constricted body, wide-eyed circular headlights, tall windshield and curve of the bug's hood vie with the facial features of a smiling woman or child.

"This is the master-work cute car — not dominant, not aggressive," said Slice, an associate professor of painstaking computing at FSU. "I don't think anyone could be mean to someone else in a Volkswagen Beetle."

Slice and bloke researchers at Austria's Vienna University, where he's a guest professor, are exploring the extensively held belief that cars project personalities because they look like benign faces when viewed head-on.

Source: The Associated Press

See Also

• Bumpers
• Door Handle
• Fog Lights
• Fenders
• Grilles
• Headlights
• Hoods
• Mirrors
• Tail Lights
• Turn Signals
• Tailgates
• Wheels
• Windows
• Weatherstripping
• Trunks