Volvo’s newly announced Life Paint is aimed at making cyclists easier to see at night, by acting as an invisible reflective spray that glows under the glare of a car's headlights.

While its main intention is to make cyclists more visible by coating their helmets and bikes, it could also be used by pedestrians and applied to any number of objects, including clothes, prams, dog leads, shoes and bags.

The paint is transparent and makes no noticeable difference to the feel of the material, lasting for around a week once applied. From there, once the user moves in front of a car's headlights, the sprayed material instantly turns to a hot white glow to improve visibility.

Life Paint forms part of Volvo’s 2020 Vision initiative, a safety campaign promising that by the year 2020, no person will be seriously injured or killed by a new Volvo vehicle. To begin with, free cans of Life Paint will be given away at bike stores in England. If the product is well received, Volvo plans to eventually make it available internationally.