This week, Ford showed off a swoopy concept car with a futuristic dash designed for a generation that grew up with cell phones. The Verve concept was unveiled prior to its formal debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. In the car biz, this stuff happens a lot, so don't laugh.

The instrument panel's center stack soars upward in an "eye-pleasing winged effect" (Ford says) framing a large LCD called the Ford Convers+ system--Ford's vision of the HMI, or human machine interface. But could the Verve actually be built? Buttons mounted that high would be a bear to press accurately on bumpy roads. But concept cars are meant to gauge public reaction, and the most popular features show up a couple years later, in less radical formats.

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