After this summer’s robot-staffed hotel near Nagasaki and Softbank’s successful launch of Pepper the emotional robot, it should come as no surprise that the newest innovation in transport involves robotics once again. From 2016, Kanagawa’s inhabitants will have a new mode of transport in the form of… driverless taxis. Driverless besides the human crew members that will be in the car during the trial period to ensure nothing goes wrong, that is, but the future has come to Japan once again.
The taxi service is a joint venture between the local government and RobotTaxi, who intend to commercialise their product by 2020 (just in time for the Olympics, as per usual) for locals and tourists to be able to get from A to B in places where buses and taxis are scarce. For now, however, the trial run will involve about three kilometres, include some of Kanagawa’s main roads and help an initial group of 50 seniors to get around town to do their shopping.
Judging from the promo video, it’s the latter that will be RobotTaxi’s main market – and based on the exceptional focus placed on emotions and a ‘human’ touch, it might just be the next big thing in elderly transport since the invention of the wheelchair. They might face stiff competition soon, however, as Google has been testing its driverless cars since launching their self-driving car project in 2009, and Apple is rumoured to be entering the market as well.
Could be cool, but we'll miss the white gloves of our taxi drivers…
- By Kirsty Bouwers