Smudge Be Gone: GM Files Patent for Touchscreen That Cleans Itself

GM has filed a patent with the USPTO for a self-cleaning touchscreen, as first reported by autoevolution.com.The patent for the self-cleaning display describes the use of a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove blemishes.Neither the coating nor the light are visible to the human eye, so drivers could amaze their passengers with the “magic” glass.

General Motors could have good news for greasy-fingered drivers. The automaker is developing a touchscreen that cleans itself, according to a patent GM filed last week with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Fingerprint Remover

The patent for the self-cleaning display was discovered by autoevolution.com. The system described in the patent uses a photocatalytic coating and violet light to remove oil residue, fingerprints, and other debris. As anyone with a touchscreen in their car knows all too well, these type of blemishes can quickly accumulate, resulting in a smudge-riddled surface.

A closer reading of the patent explains that touchscreens with LED displays emit visible red, green, and blue light. The violet light in the proposed self-cleaning unit constitutes an invisible fourth LED. It reacts to the photocatalyst in the transparent coating on the touchscreen along with moisture in the air to clean the glass surface. GM’s patent states this process can be manually turned on or automatically activated based on the amount of sunlight exposure or under various other circumstances.

The Cadillac Escalade’s huge screen has lots of real estate for fingerprints.

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“Magic” Glass

With the touchscreens in GM’s newest models getting bigger and bigger, it makes sense to devise an effortless way of keeping their expansive glass clean. Currently, the job requires a clean cloth and some elbow grease. In the future, it could be as easy as pushing a button.

We think such a feature could be used to amaze passengers too, as neither the photocatalytic coating nor the violet light used to clean the screen are visible to our human eyes. We’d cosplay as our favorite Harry Potter character and call it “magic” glass.

Of course, it still remains to be seen whether GM takes its proposed self-cleaning display from patent to production. Until then, storing some napkins in the glovebox is the simplest way to keep greasy fingerprints at bay.

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Senior Editor

Eric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si.