Traditional car mirrors on a driver’s side are flat, providing a narrow field of view ranging from 15 to 17 degrees. This leaves a significant area behind the car invisible to the driver because it is not covered by the side or rear-view mirrors. This area, known as the blind spot, can be made visible using a spherical mirror, which drivers can mount over or instead of the original flat mirror. Unfortunately, such mirrors are considerably curved and significantly distort the image.

To solve these problems, Drexel’s mathematics professor, Dr. R. Andrew Hicks, has invented a new driver’s side mirror that eliminates the blind spot with only a minor distortion of the reflected image. Unlike the flat mirror, the field of view of the new mirror is about 45 degrees. This is achieved by a specially designed reflective surface defined by a complex mathematical formula that makes the surface only slightly curved. The picture on the right compares the standard car mirrow (bottom) with the new mirrow (top). A much larger area behind the car is visible through the new mirror. Notably, the important, lower, portion of the reflected image is undistorted, and only the upper part of the image is slightly altered. This alteration is insignificant as the upper part of the image is of no importance to the driver.