In Las Vegas, at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show, Toyota took the wraps off one of their most striking creations yet - and in fact arguably the most attention-grabbing cars to grace the tech expo.
Called the Concept-i and designed by Toyota’s CALTY Design Research division in California, it’s the Japanese automaker’s surest stab at the murky but exciting future of the automotive industry. The debut at CES is telling as it underscores the early congealing of cars and the larger technology industry.
The futuristic car is as ‘out there’ as you can imagine for a 2017 concept, sporting a fluidly aerodynamic shape with vertical scissor doors that looks like it belongs in some stainless, germ-less future utopian city. There’s no official word on what kind of powertrain the Concept-i hides under its science fiction body but we assume it’s an EV given its flat floor (to house the battery) and the cavernous amounts of front passenger legroom that would intrude into where the engine would have to reside.
But that’s not what the Concept-i is here to say, and Toyota made less mention of the car itself than the software that powers it. Billed as a car that leverages advanced artificial intelligence, it will be able to learn an owner/driver’s tendencies in order to anticipate their needs and overall improve their lives through machine learning.
“At Toyota, we recognise that the important question isn’t whether future vehicles will be equipped with automated or connected technologies,” said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota. “It is the experience of the people who engage with those vehicles. Thanks to Concept-i and the power of artificial intelligence, we think the future is a vehicle that can engage with people in return.”
What’s different about Toyota’s system, developed by the San Francisco-based Toyota Innovation Hub, is that it is able to measure and compute much more than just driving patterns and media consumption habits. The car would interface its passenger as an AI agent nicknamed ‘Yui’ which communicates through casual speech.
Interestingly, Toyota has avoided building in as screen interaction models linking Yui to the people in the car as it’s meant to engage the driver in conversation for the majority. Think of it as Toyota’s version Siri, proactively interacting with you and your car.
Also, there are two major autonomy features in the Concept-i, called Guardian and Chauffeur. The first being an always-on system that helps anticipate and avoid impending incidents and would briefly employ some kind of corrective response. Guardian, depending on the seriousness of a given situation, can alert the driver with visual and/or auditory cues and only if necessary intervenes by manipulating vehicle speed and steering.
The second, Chauffeur, is rather self explanatory and is built to safely and reliably transport the car and its passengers from one location to the other, taking into consideration traffic conditions, weather, to ensure a smooth journey.
It’s yet another tread stone in the an increasingly popular narrative that frames the car of the future as a “third space” where people will spend the majority of their time (and usually not driving ourselves) besides and home and place of work.
For more on Toyota vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
