 Glen A. Larson borrowed the idea of K.I.T.T.s hood mounted scanner  from one of his earlier projects, Battlestar Galactica. The Cylon  Centurions in that series had an almost identical scanner that  functioned as eyes, and Larson adapted the idea for K.I.T.T. Also,  originally K.I.T.T. had a square red light on the dashboard that lit  up as he spoke. His more familiar voice modulator, with three red  lines broken into cells which went up and down as he spoke, was  introduced half