Touchscreens to self-clean fingerprint smudges.

Sure, General Motors (GM) might be an old-school automobile and truck manufacturer, but as such, it also has its finger on the pulse of today’s technologies. And GM has received a patent for a new invention that not only will be useful to drivers but will also improve the experience of using a smartphone, a tablet, or any device with a touchscreen. The patent protects GM’s idea to create a screen that eliminates fingerprints, grease, and oil via a self-cleaning process.

According to patent US 11,579,340 awarded to GM by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (via Gizmodo) titled “Self-cleaning system for displays using light-emitting diodes emitting invisible violet light,” the screen would use violet pixels that the human eye cannot detect in addition to red, blue, and green pixels. The touchscreen panel would also be coated with a photocatalyst that absorbs certain wavelengths.

The violet pixels would be used during a cleaning cycle initiated by the driver during the day, or automatically when the vehicle is parked overnight. Ultraviolet radiation present in sunlight along with the violet pixels would activate the photocatalyst in the screen coating resulting in a chemical reaction that breaks down the organic material that creates fingerprint smudges on the display. Besides fingerprints, the process will also clean oil grease off of the glass along with fast food residue.