Toyota's Concept-i Walk Offers Rolling Personal Mobility

Toyota thinks outside the car with one of two new Concept-i vehicles unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show this year. The Concept-i Walk is a mobility device that takes the same physical space as a person who walks and who can automatically anticipate and avoid collisions.

It sounds a bit like a reduced Segway, but it is designed for easy use for anyone using a single joystick for navigation and acceleration. As mentioned earlier, it does not occupy more space than a mere pedestrian, which means it should be easy to use in real-life conditions without any requirements in terms of change behavior to adapt to the new mode of transport.

The Concept-i Walk has a slim body, resulting in the integrated joystick, which is ergonomically designed to work with the human body. When the vehicle detects a hazard using its on-board sensors, it issues an alert and automatically avoids everything it sees, including things like a child riding in front of it, through example.

The total width of the base is less than the width of a person's shoulders, and its length from front to back is less than the average stride of a person – so it takes less of place that a person walks, says Toyota. And unlike vehicles like the Segway, there is no need to change weight, the steering being designed around this unique handle, positioned at about the height of the stomach to allow the rider to use it in a relaxed way.

All that a driver needs to do, is flex his wrist slightly to the right or left to make turns because it is designed to work with limited arm mobility for better accessibility.

The vehicle has three wheels for stability when stopping, and the wheelbase is variable to provide stability at multiple speeds. Toyota's Yui personal agent Yui is also present with the wizard through the Concept-i line, which includes the original concept vehicle revealed at CES this year, and now the Walk and the Ride .

Yui on the Concept-i Walk has an integrated projector for visual communication, which allows him to project contextual information on showcases for example, and speakers for voice communication.

Its total cruise range on a single charge is about 6 to 12 miles, and Toyota aims to weigh about 44 pounds, which is relatively portable for a personal vehicle like this. It will have a maximum speed of about 4 miles per hour because it is designed to work with the existing pedestrian traffic flow.

This concept testifies to Toyota's growing interest in working on personal mobility solutions and freeing the freedom of movement for groups, including the elderly, who have traditionally had problems with this. It's still only a concept, but Toyota seems to want to explore mobility at all levels, and also design a wizard-based experience that follows the user at every step of this journey. trip.

Disclaimer: Toyota provided accommodation and travel services for this trip to the Tokyo Motor Show.