A company called Automotive Lighting, based in Reutlingen, Germany, announced today of the world's first "active" infrared high-beam headlights which will be available on the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

What makes this infrared high-beam system different than others, is that it has the ability to detect cold objects. Other systems are described as "passive" systems because they only detect objects that have different levels of heat than their surroundings. This new "active" system can illuminate objects that have the same temperature.

The information gathered by the infrared system is displayed on a special monitor mounted on the dashboard. Infrared high-beam systems seem to be the next big thing in automotive luxuries.