Japan Gets In Gear:Tokyo Motor Show 2007

The dust has settled on the Tokyo Motor Show, traditionally the outlet for the industry’s most avant-garde predictions.

2007’s debuts didn’t disappoint, although the host country’s penchant for bizarre city cars is starting to look rather less eccentric as public perception shifts in their favor.

As well as some cracking urban concepts from Honda, Toyota and Nissan, here’s Wallpaper's round-up of the show’s scattering of the bold and the brave.


Above: Lexus LF-Xh concept
As a luxury brand, Lexus doesn’t dabble in the small scale. It is, however, fully committed to lowering emissions, so while the size of the LF-Xh concept was an eye-opener in these eco-conscious times, the news that the urban SUV packed the latest version of the company’s tried and tested hybrid drive was far more welcome.

The concept is sleek but not improbably so, and many elements of the design will make their way into next year’s new RX model. The wrap-around, folding interior structure seems strongly influenced by contemporary architecture.


Above: Audi metroproject quattro concept
Mindful that the media’s eyes would be drawn to the more unusual fare on show, few major Western manufacturers brought all-new models to the show. Audi were the exception, and while the metroproject is ostensibly a design study, it’s actually a near production-ready version of 2009’s A1 city car.

The concept uses a mild hybrid drive to keep emissions down, while the swooping roof line gives the car an easily identifiable silhouette. The metro project also includes Audi’s new in-car remote control, a hand held device designed to control the car’s functions (try switching on the heater before you’ve even stepped out of the front door on a winter’s morning). Expect the idea to spread across the company’s entire range before long.


Above: Honda CR-Z Concept
The CR-Z offered a rather more believable view of the future than most concepts on show. Standing for ‘Compact Renaissance - Zero’, the car’s anteater-like snout and extreme wedge shape all hint at a low drag shape.

Intended as a sporting take on the ubiquitous hatchback, expect elements of the CR-Z to surface in the 2009 model year, with hybrid power on board right from the start. Sadly, the neon-striped spaceship feel of the interior might not make it to the showroom.


Above: Mitsubishi i MiEV Sport
A sporting variant on the Mitsubishi i, the i MiEV Sport is a low-slung fastback city car, with a scarab-shaped bodyshell and an all-electric, all-wheel drive power train.

Foam green bodywork offsets the high-tech goings on below, including solar cells in the roof and a miniature wind turbine concealed behind the grill. The two plus two is pitched at the sporting environmentalist - an oxymoronic consumer profile the auto industry is keen to cultivate.


Above:Suzuki Pixy and Sharing Coach
In the future, Suzuki’s futurists expect we’ll want a car that fragments into smaller vehicles, taking each occupant a stage further on their individual journeys. This ‘sustainable mobility’ concept is embodied in the SSC, the Suzuki Sharing Coach.

Essentially a box on wheels, each SSC can contain two PIXYs, a curious personal transportation module with an upright stance and the ability to enter buildings. It’s a solution to a problem that doesn’t yet exist, but Suzuki are banking on the pod people taking over the pavements of tomorrow as a response to smog-shrouded roadways.




Above: Nissan Intima
Big saloons still sell by the boatload in Asia. Nissan’s Intima looks relatively conventional but is saved from mass-market dreariness by the clamshell doors that open up the cavernous interior and the teardrop-shaped windscreen that extends high over the passenger seats.

The thought of seats that swivel round to deposit you on the pavement might appeal to Japan’s fast-ageing population, although the firm is pitching this as a, and we quote, ‘New-generation Saloon for People with a Sophisticated, Discerning Eye for Beauty’.


Above: Nissan RD/BX
Nissan’s ‘Round Box’ Concept epitomises the current trend towards the toy-like, a bulked-up four-seater that features a bluff frontage and open-air top. In corporate speak that translates into a ‘Youth-Oriented Compact Convertible’, hence the emphasis on being a mobile social environment. The driver gets the usual quota of lights and dials, while the satnav system can be accessed by anyone (sure to cause a few arguments).


Above:Daihatsu Mud Master-C
With its Tonka Toy moniker and four-square stance, the Mud Master-C is an almost comically cute reinterpretation of the classic go-anywhere utility vehicle. Reminiscent of any number of ultra-tough models from the classic Unimog onwards, the Mud Master-C was actually developed in collaboration with one of Japan’s leading mountain bikers, Raita Suzuki, as a ‘support vehicle.’ Deliveries never need be delayed again.



Above: Toyota RiN / Toyota Hi-CT
While Toyota’s 1/X hybrid concept was relatively conventional, the company let loose its creative juices with the RiN and Hi-CT. The latter was a joystick-steered, mini utility vehicle, with an upright cab and space on the back platform to haul anything you please. Plug-in hybrid drive comes as standard.

The RiN was even more avant-garde, a push-me-pull-you style urban vehicle inspired by tea houses and the dream of zero emissions. The white bodywork was decorated with organic forms, and the green carpet was a not-so-subtle way of turning the driving experience into a soothing walk in the park.

Source: Wallpaper Magazine

If You Drink, This Nissan Won't Drive. Futuristic Sensors Detect Inebriation.

Japanese car company developing a car with built-in sensors to detect drunkenness of driver, locking ignition if needed. OPPAMA, Japan (Reuters) --

Beer-breaths, beware.

A new concept car with breathalyzer-like detection systems may provide even greater traction for Japanese efforts to keep impaired drivers off the road.

Nissan's alcohol-detection sensors check odor, sweat and driver awareness, issuing a voice alert from the navigation system and locking up the ignition if necessary.

Odor sensors on the driver and passenger seats read alcohol levels, while a detector in the gear-shift knob measures the perspiration of the driver's palm when starting the car.

Other carmakers with detection systems include Sweden's Volvo , which has developed technology in which drivers blow into a measuring unit in the seat belt before an engine can start.

But Nissan's car includes a mounted camera that monitors alertness by eye scan, ringing bells and issuing a voice message in Japanese or English if a driver should pull over and rest.

The car technology is still in development, but general manager Kazuhiro Doi says the combination of detection systems will ultimately keep an eye on who's behind the wheel.

"We've placed odor detectors and a sweat sensor on the gear shift, but for example if the gear-shift sensor was bypassed by a passenger using it instead of the driver, the facial recognition system would be used," said Doi.

Also keeping a short leash on drivers, car seat belts tighten if drowsiness is detected, while an on-road monitor checks if a car is keeping its lane properly.

Japan's No. 3 carmaker, which competes with Toyota and Honda, has no specific timetable for marketing, but aims to yoke all technology to cut the number of fatalities involving its vehicles to half 1995 levels by 2015.

Nissan's Doi says they still have to distill exactly what impairment means: "If you drink one beer, it's going to register, so we need to study what's the appropriate level for the system to activate."

Odor Sensors placed throughout the car detect the presence of alcohol and a facial monitoring system can recognize drowsy and drunken behavior.

Shift Knob Sensor:


1) A hi-sensitivity alcohol odor sensor is built into the transmission shift knob, which is able to detect the presence of alcohol in the perspiration of the driver's palm as he or she attempts to start driving. When the alcohol-level detected is above the pre-determined threshold, the system automatically locks the transmission, immobilizing the car. A "drunk-driving" voice alert is also issued via the car navigation system.

Passenger Seat Sensor:


2) Additional alcohol odor sensors are also incorporated into the driver's and passenger seats to detect the presence of alcohol in the air inside the vehicle cabin. When alcohol is detected, the system issues both a voice alert and a message alert on the navigation system monitor.

Facial Monitoring System:


A camera is mounted on the instrument cluster facing the driver to monitor the driver's face:


The system is calibrated to monitor the driver's state of consciousness through their eyes. When the system detects signs of drowsiness, a voice and message alert is triggered via the navigation system. Additionally, a seat-belt mechanism is activated, which tightens around the driver to gain his or her immediate attention.

Driving Behavior
By constantly monitoring the operational behavior of the vehicle (e.g. sensing if the vehicle is drifting out of its driving lane), the system can identify signs of inattentiveness or distraction in the driver. When the system detects such behavior, voice and message alerts are issued via the navigation system. The seat-belt alert mechanism is also activated, tightening around the driver to gain immediate attention.

This concept car was developed as an exploratory platform to showcase breakthrough technologies that could potentially be applied in future production cars, part of an ongoing program from Nissan contributing towards preventing drunk-driving.


CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

Nissan has already launched and is developing several initiatives to help prevent drunk-driving. In June, the company introduced the "drunk-driving" message alert on its navigation system. In July, Nissan also began testing of a new on-board breathalyzer system in cooperation with several local government authorities in Japan, where an interlock mechanism will immobilize the vehicle if the driver's breath indicates the presence of alcohol above a specified level.

Nissan is taking a holistic approach towards safety that extends beyond the technology built into its vehicles. To achieve a "safe driving environment," Nissan has embarked on the Intelligent Transport System Project (ITS) in Kanagawa Prefecture - aimed at helping to reduce road accidents via the analysis of traffic data collected from on-the-road vehicles and traffic beacons. In Japan, the company's safety vision is to halve the number of traffic fatalities or serious injuries involving Nissan vehicles by 2015 compared with the level in 1995.