Toyota’s Concept-Ai Car That Wants To Befriend You

What is the whole point of a consumer electronics show if you do not have a few concepts that tickle the imagination? The engineers at Toyota would like to wow us with their vision of what a car in the future would look like, kicking things off with “Yui”. Specially designed from the ground up, the Toyota Concept-i offers hopes to inspire the future in terms of mobility by knowing you better. Note how “Ai” is written “愛i” (pronounced “ai”), with “愛” meanning “love” in Japanese.

Most definitely artificial intelligence (AI) will play a role in the Toyota Concept-i, as the Japanese automobile manufacturer would like this vehicle to become your friend. While not so much an emotional attachment as in the characters in Pixar’s “Cars”, having a machine that can relate to you somewhat can be uncanny and unnerving as it is comforting.

"THE CONCEPT'S DESIGN LOOKED FABULOUS"The Toyota Concept-i will arrive with a forward-thinking user interface in order to reflect its personality. Toyota’s goal is to create an emotional bond between driver and car AI and the concept’s design looked fabulous. The entire concept was built from the inside-out, making sure that you would love to drive in the Concept-i as much as possible. Toyota has plans to integrate biometric sensors in different areas of the car, allowing it to figure out just how you are feeling.

Assuming you are starting to feel on the down and out, it will automatically analyze your emotion before providing a recommendation on what your options are next. Should it be necessary, it can even engage the autonomous driving mode and bring you safe and sound to your destination while you mope behind the wheel.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Transportation
Tags: artificial intelligence, CES, CES 2017, Concept, concept-i, prototype, toyota