XPeng, a Chinese electric car company, has introduced a feature called the Road Rage Reliever. It lets you fire digital emojis at other drivers using an augmented reality display that stretches across your windshield. No actual contact, no damage—just a floating angry face or animated shoe projected toward the car that pissed you off.
The new “tool” works through onboard cameras that track nearby vehicles, a customizable button on the steering wheel, and a 3D rendering system that makes the emoji look like it’s hovering thirty feet ahead. According to XPeng’s CEO, He Xiaopeng, it’s meant to help drivers “experience civilized frustration.” That’s the phrase he went with.
It’s easy to laugh at the idea of emoji combat on the highway, but XPeng is reacting to a real problem. Road rage hasn’t just gone up—it’s turned violent. Last year in the U.S., 116 people were killed in road rage shootings. More than 360 were injured. Nearly everyone has either seen it happen or been on the receiving end.
Drivers Can Now Send Emojis to Each Other—and It Might Actually Make Roads Safer
The company says the AR system is safer than looking down at a screen because it keeps the driver’s eyes forward. Some research supports this; other research says heads-up displays can become their own kind of distraction, especially when drivers start paying more attention to floating graphics than actual road conditions.
None of that has stopped XPeng from framing it as emotional safety tech. They developed it with Huawei’s optics team, using distortion calculations to make the windshield projection feel like it’s part of the environment. The result is a windshield that doubles as a cartoon set, with your commute as the backdrop.
Whether it’s a clever outlet or a brand-new way to space out while driving remains to be seen. But in a year where people are throwing objects through windows and pulling weapons over lane changes, XPeng’s system at least offers an alternative that doesn’t involve police reports.
It won’t fix traffic, bad drivers, or the slow erosion of public patience. But if it stops one person from throwing a latte or pulling a weapon, maybe that’s enough.
The post Drivers Can Now Launch Emojis at Each Other—and It Might Save Lives appeared first on VICE.
