Spy-Shot Bonanza

Below is a collection of reader-submitted spy shots. Frankly, we're stumped as to what these pictures show us, but speculation ranges from a BMW SUV in the first images, to a new BMW 7-series in the next set, to “your guess is as good as ours” for the last vehicle, caught testing in the Czech Republic. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to identify as many of the following images and report your guesses in the Comments section below.

Teen-created PSAs combat distracted driving

Two widely held assumptions about 21st-century American teenagers is that they're too busy with their smartphones to have any interest in cars and that any who manage to find their way behind the wheel are too distracted to drive safely anyway. These generalizations are broad, unfair and perhaps even counterproductive -- yet they're reinforced every time distracted driving leads to a preventable tragedy. That's why we were glad to see young drivers take action by creating a series of anti-distracted-driving public safety announcements for the Teens Drive Smart Video Contest.

Reproducing reality – X-Rite’s Total Appearance Capture

Total Appearance Capture isn't some sinister new form of identity theft but a revolutionary method of digitizing physical models using a new scanning technology, with the ability to capture extraordinary detail and all input and output light. The system, from coatings color measurement experts X-Rite, combines color, texture, gloss and other surface characteristics into a digital material ‘description' that can be imported directly to computer-aided design programs. What sets it apart from previously available methods is its ability to collect information on complex materials such as textiles, leather, basketwork, stone, coatings and plated finishes, in a 3D scene lit by a virtual studio environment.