What on Earth is this all about, then?

This is Toyota's idea of urban mobility for the second half of the 21st Century: a trio of electric vehicles which all share the same artificial intelligence system.

Artificial intelligence? All gone a bit Stanley Kubrick, hasn't it?

Indeed. We've already seen the most 'normal' of these concepts, the Concept-i hatchback, which Toyota showed off at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas back in January. It is a compact electric car, with a roughly 200-mile one-charge range, that uses its powerful AI Agent computer to monitor your emotions.

"I think you should take a relaxation pill, Dave..."

Quite. Well, the idea here is that the Concept-i can switch to autonomous self-driving control if it detects you're getting sleepy, or if it senses that the situation on the road is becoming too stressful and you're starting to panic. It can even detect if you're bored.

Well, it'll be doing that all the time with me.

Get used to detours, then. If it detects boredom, it'll start varying your chosen route, looking for interesting little diversions along the way.

Blimey. That'll get tiresome. What are the other two?

The Concept-i RIDE and Concept-i WALK are debuting at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, and are meant for short urban transportation solutions. The RIDE is a one-or-two seat pod, with gullwing doors and an extending ramp, that's designed to be used by disabled drivers and wheelchair users. It's controlled by a joystick, so you don't need a steering wheel or pedals, and the AI Agent helps the driver to control the vehicle and to navigate.

The WALK is basically an intelligent Segway. It takes one person, standing up obviously, and can run for up to 12.5 miles. Here the AI Agent scans the area around the WALK and helps the user to avoid any obstacles or dangers.

Neil Briscoe - 16 Oct 2017