These smart car sensors will notify you if someone dents your car

German manufacturer Hella Group is working on sets of smart car sensors that can notify you when you car has been scratched, dented, punctured, or worse.

The sensor kit, called the Intelligent Damage Detection System, is adhered to the backside of body panels or hooked into existing electronic infrastructure like Park Distance Control.

Hella calls it "a sense of touch... for the whole outer shell," AutoBlog reports.

The company says that algorithm can determine exactly "where the scratch is and how intensive it is," and if it came from something like hail or a falling tree.

Jonathon Ramsey at AutoBlog writes:

If the IDDS is wired into the car's GPS or a telematics system like OnStar, it can record the details of when the damage happened, and if plugged into a car's numerous cameras it might be able to snap a picture of the offender. You - and the offender and your insurance company - would then have real-time information on what, where, when, and how the damage occurred.

The system is expected to launch in 2015 and may be fully integrated into some cars by by 2018.