Japanese car maker Nissan has designed a self-driving chair for those who can’t stand standing in line waiting to get into their favorite restaurant, concert, motor vehicle office or other popular venue. The autonomous chair automatically advances as the line moves, eliminating the tedium and physical strain of standing in line.
The ProPILOT Chair detects and automatically follows the chair ahead of it, maintaining a fixed distance and traveling along a set path. The ProPilot chair is named after the company’s autonomous driving technology for vehicles that maintains a safe distance behind the car ahead and ensures that the vehicle stays in the center of its lane.
The ProPilot Chair follows Nissan’s debut earlier this year of its Intelligent Parking Chair. This office chair on a roller automatically moves to a pre-set target position, freeing users from the burdensome task of arranging chairs. It was inspired by Nissan’s intelligent park assist technology that allows drivers to easily park their vehicles using automatic steering.
Nissan is testing the ProPILOT Chair in the real world by offering it to restaurants across Japan. The chairs will appear at selected restaurants in 2017. In the meantime, from September 29 through October 2, the public gallery at Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama will offer an exhibit featuring six of the chairs.
Bring a chair— the line to get into the exhibit could be long.
Topics Personal Auto Autonomous Vehicles
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