Toyota Unveils a New Car That Greets the Owner and Passengers

A car that greets its owners and passengers as they walk towards it has been produced by Toyota Motor Corporation.

The vehicle called Concept-i was unveiled last Wednesday at CES 2017, a global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow in Las Vegas, the United States.

A report by the CNN says saysmore about the car which sits four people:

“Its doors are made almost entirely of glass to give passengers a better view of the road beneath them. The rear wheels are built into the car’s sleek white frame,” it states.

It also says the screen on the car’s rear displays warnings such as “watch out” for anyone driving behind the Concept-i.

Although the car is said to be designed with the future in mind, it still requires a human driver. The car comes with autonomous driving features, but they are designed to be used only in challenging driving situations.



A report by an online journal, Evening Standards, says the Concept-i is fitted with an intelligent assistant — similar to Siri on Apple devices — which communicates through sound, light and touch to alert the driver about road conditions and ensure they are not falling asleep at the wheel.

It says the concept car can be manually controlled or put into self-driving mode and the intelligent assistant, called Yui, greets driver and passengers as they approach.

The report quotes Toyota Motor Corporation as saying that Yui will build a relationship with the car’s owner by learning driving patterns and schedules and can even measure emotional states via in-car sensors.

It states, “Designers ditched the traditional central console in favour of giving information only when it is needed; including coloured LED lights in the foot-wells to indicate if the car is in autonomous or manual mode. Projectors warn about blind spots and bonnet lights warn other drivers and pedestrians that the car is in self-driving mode.

“On the rear of the car, messages can warn other drivers about potential hazards.”

CNN also said that Toyota did not want the vehicle to come across as an impersonal, soulless technology. It intentionally picked bright warm colours such as white and pink for the concept model.

Although the report gave an indication that Toyota would start testing the vehicle in Japan in the next few years, it added, “Don’t count on the Concept-i hitting the roads anytime soon.”

SOURCE: punchng.com