When we were growing up in the Halcyon toyetic days of the 1980s, we revered the kid who could perfectly imitate the noise a Transformer made when shifting from car to giant robot and back again. If our seven-year-old selves could hijack a nuclear fusion-powered DeLorean, zip ahead to 2016, and catch a glimpse of a Letron, they would chance the catastrophic paradox to kick themselves between the uprights upon returning and demand that we stop being so easily impressed.
“What the hell is a Letron?” you might ask. Simply put, Turkish developer Letivision’s working prototypes of vehicles that transform from a 1:1 scale-size BMW sedan replica into a bipedal robot demand their country’s due credit for much more than deliciously strong coffee and an infamously hilarious unauthorized remake of “Star Wars.” Of course, these revolutionary robots in disguise come with a few limitations to eventually overcome. They don’t accommodate drivers or passengers inside, though they can be driven in car form with a remote control. The actual transformation process lacks the seamless speed of Star Scream converting from scramjet to mealy-mouth evil metallic toadie in mid-air – in fact, it’s awkwardly slow – but they do shift from one form to the next entirely on their own.
The fully transformed robot is equipped with moving hands, fingers, and arms, as well as an articulating head and neck. Color us more than a bit surprised and impressed that it also offers Wi-Fi connectivity. Finally, in a possible hint that this RC luxury sedan of the future will serve as more of a stage prop than practical hardware, it produces lighting, fog, and sound effects.
The good news being, Letivision didn’t sink unimaginable man-hours and money into seeing this project through just for bragging rights. We expect a price tag somewhere in the “If you have to ask, don’t waste your time” ballpark, but Letrons will eventually hit the consumer market at a date and cost to be determined.
Source – SlashGear
