One of the interesting things about classic works of literature is how they rely on certain technologies not existing – usually because they didn’t exist at the time the work was written. Romeo and Juliet would have had a happy ending if the star-crossed lovers had simply owned mobile phones. Genetic analysis would have done a number on your average Agatha Christie murder mystery, and anyone could be Encyclopedia Brown with the help of a smartphone and the internet.
Now imagine the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, but with a rear vision camera. Orpheus: the brilliant musical genius whose performance convinces the god of the underworld to let him take his dead wife Eurydice back into the land of the living. There’s a catch: Orpheus isn’t allowed to look back until he makes it out of the underworld. In the classical version of the myth, Orpheus, fearing that Eurydice isn’t there, looks back over his shoulder just before he crosses the threshold into the world above – and Eurydice vanishes as soon as he looks at her. It’s such a tragedy – but with a reverse camera kit, Orpheus could have confirmed that his wife was following him without doing a head check.
Beyond adding happy endings to Greek myths, reversing cameras help avoid tragedy in the modern world. With a caravan rear camera, you can avoid costly accidents that damage your motor home. And truck rear vision systems are also vital – you don’t want to leave any oblivious pedestrians behind your vehicle trapped in the underworld forever! Reversing cameras are a great example of just the sort of technology that avoids nasty mishaps. As they become more and more common, backing into other vehicles will hopefully become obsolete – already, vehicles without them seem out of place, like some Ancient Greek guy prancing around in a toga in the middle of the city.
