Hate long lines? Well, Nissan has come up with a solution in its ProPILOT self-driving chair that negotiates the waiting in line for you by following the chair in front of it.
As part of its intelligent mobility strategy, Nissan’s ProPILOT chair detects and automatically follows the chair ahead of it. The system closely resembles Nissan’s plan for its automotive vehicles that maintains a safe distance behind cars and makes sure the car stays in the center of its lane. In Nissan’s autonomous driving technology, the goal is to ease the workload of the driver for repetitive aspects of driving on highways. The same idea is being applied here.
Nissan ProPILOT self-driving chair Nissan says the chair will appeal to anyone that has to stand in line outside a crowded event or restaurant, as it eliminates the tedium and physical strain of standing in a line.
The ProPILOT Chair will receive real-world testing as the company plans to test the chair between now and late December in restaurants across Japan. The chairs will then be deployed to selected restaurants starting sometime in 2017. In the meantime, Nissan will have an exhibit at its headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, that will feature six of the chairs, and visitors will get to see them in action as they move customers along in line autonomously.
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