Published on 12/19/2007
You might have heard of Prof. Kawashima, as he is the developer of Brain Training, a mega-hit on Nintendo DS among older (and younger) people. Toyota realizes that there might an automobile market for the elderly, just like there’s a cellphone market for this population – at least in Asia.
The project is also on the drawing board at this point, but an elderly-friendly car could include features like intelligent acceleration/braking, better climate control (hey, I could use that too), and subject monitoring to make sure that the driver stays alert. It’s not clear if the project will eventually become a product and if so, what the legal ramifications are. Assisted driving is not a new idea, but the shift in responsibility from the driver to the manufacturer has been holding the industry back for decades. [via Daily Mail]