Slashdot Mirror
Sony/Toyota Developing Car With Emotions
ackthpt writes: "From Yahoo News, a concept car to be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, next week, will attempt to read the driver's emotions, stress level and respond. Named "Pod", the car will frown and even cry (does this mean it leaks radiator fluid?) With emphasis on attracting younger drivers and "cute", the car will also take pictures when it determines the atmosphere inside is a happy one, memorize musical taste and TV preferences and offer shopping information. (Just what we need, the Highway Shopping Channel...) Probably better not to take this one out into the street. Maybe with some hacking it could really be a fun car." There's a picture. This is wild.
i never liked speed buggy anyway
Could this technology be used to prevent road rage? It could shut the car down if you get too angry and start driving erratically...
My sig has a broken link in it.
The car throws a tantrum and refuses to move when you come out of the local Safeway because you didn't buy it some air freshner or engine oil.
No, that's its response
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Perhaps they forgot that you have to be ~17 to drive in most states! I think most 12 year olds would get tired of a car like that.
You know when robots/artificial intelligence is given human attributes that really is just sad, and it implies a gross misunderstanding by the one perceiving the attributes. For instance I happened to see the movie Aliens the other night and gagged at the scene where "Bishop" is ripped in half by the alien and it's a big emotional scene. You see in my world Ripley would boot him out with the trash down the airlock. Bah.
a whole lot of cars with PMS.
Think I'll buy a bus.
...to incontinence. You know, one of the things that really pisses me off about slashdot now, no wait, two of the things; This 20 second delay between page load and acceptable submission time, and the two minute delay between allowed posts. They're really distracting when you're in an altered state and trying to post your latest witticism.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't let you go there.
"This is a Hollywood movie: when it comes to the Laws of Physics, they're lucky if they get Gravity!" --- my wife
..."Barney The Dinosaur" toy but with an engine and wheels?
My GOD! It takes pictures inside the car when the atmosphere is a "happy one"?!
If my family owned one of these cars when I was growing up, it would've been lucky to take a picture once a year (specially on family holidays).
:)
for someone who has been married before i don't feel like driving a car that tuns into a moody bitch as soon as you look at another car....
Dave: Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?
HAL: Affirmative, Dave, I read you.
Dave: Open the car doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL?
HAL: I know you and Sally were planning to leave me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Approach the car with the mini-pod and it lights up, opens the door, swivels the seat for easy entry as well as adjusting the seat's height. Switch off the engine with mini-pod, and the car falls in height and bids the driver farewell.
While that is really spiffy, is there really a need for this car? I'll admit that this sounds like a very cool machine, but I'd be much more interested if the research went into developing solar/battery-powered cars. I'd rather get 120 miles to the gallon than have my car talk to me.
But a point of curiosity: does anyone with the inside scoop on this know when the car "cries"? Does it do it when the engine overheats or something?
Get annoyed when a bunch of car-sick children keep saying "Are we there yet?" every five minutes?
I hope it's not like Herbie from those "Love Bug" movies. Otherwise it will go off chasing other cars it likes, or show off when stopped next to hotted up cars at traffic lights. It would be cool to have a car that could drive itself, and do wheelies and stuff though. I wonder if they will release a VW Beatle version of it....
Two teenagers pull into the woods and start getting it on
Susie: It's not right...I feel like the car is watching me - I can't do it in that car
David - Don't worry - babe...and don't hit the car.
yep..not on my "to buy" list
----------
ah honey, we're all resplendent - Bill Mallonee
http://www.plif.com/archive/wc158.gif
How about a car that has the same quality or better as previous models, that costs less?
Really, who needs *features* and whizbangs in a car. I got better items (large please) to spend my hard-earned money on.
I misread that one as teaming up for a car having emoticons. Just what we need... cars with smiley faces on it =) =( >=) C=) *shudder*
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
Like FUEL EFFICIENCY? I'm not buying a car until one comes on the market that I can reasonably afford- and that gets at least 100 miles to the gallon, gets a clean bill of health from Consumer Reports, and needs the tires rotated more often than the oil changed (in other words, not for at least fifteen years, after we've run out of oil and finally have to build fuel efficient vehicles out of necessity).
On a lighter note, if they include a feature to pleasure the driver in ways that are probably illegal in most states and grounds for death in Singapore, well... maybe I'll test drive one.
Just wait till I choke down three chili dogs..
Witnesses say it was a scene right out of the Carwars RPG: "tires squealed, glass flew, and carnage abound." The current toll is at 20 dead and more than 100 cars catatonic.
Experts are pointing the finger at two young men who got into a dispute after one allegedly cut the other off. The man who was cut off apparently kicked the door of the first drivers car, upsetting the vehicles in the area and instigating the riot that followed.
Car psychologists, accident crisis crews, and tow trucks have been brought in to try and help those vehicles traumatized by Wednesdays events.
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
This is taking the whole volkswagen bug rehash to a logical extreme. Somehow it's improbability reminds me of net-connected refrigerators and toilets. (Wow, Imagine if your toilet can check your stool and based on that it will email your wife what it thinks he should have for lunch the next day!)
So, if you downshift into second gear going 85 mph, does it dim its lights and spray washer fluid (crying?) to let you know you hurt its feelings (not to mention camshaft and valves, as well?)
What's the deal with the 'concept cars' (ie. plastic shells filled with gadgets) that these big auto companies dream up? They have no practical value, they're often infeasible aerodynamically or in some other engineering aspect, and they'll never see the assembly line.
Meanwhile, the world waits for an economically feasible low/zero-emission vehicle and our cities continue to be pumped full of noxious gasses. I'm about ready to go build one myself. (-:
I've heard you can have a FUFME as an extra.
Wil
Can you imagine it:
*All the locks on the car doors go down!
*The temperature gradually rises cooking the inhabitants!
*Celine Dion comes on over the stereo!!!
And look at the picture...
It's Herbie the HATE bug!
:)
So a car showing emotions is likely to lead some people into a "deep and meaningful" relationship with their car, and it would cause grief when this is abruptly ended, for example, by an accident.
OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
Toyota has their Prius pulling about 50mpg. Honda has their Insight pulling about 65mpg.
The Europeans have the VW Lupo, which in specially modified form can pull ~70mpg
Toyota has announced that they will have the Prius doing 125mpg within a few years. The current Prius costs about $20,000, which isn't a lot on the car market of today. And I'd trust Toyota to make a car that Consumer Reports would smile upon.
My Subaru service guy recommends changing the oil on the Subaru every 7500 miles. You *should* be rotating the tires more frequently than that.
My BMW tells me when it needs the oil changed, and I've heard stories of it going as long as 12,000 miles between changes (which is good, b/c BMW charges a ridiculous amount, and the tool to reset the oil light costs a pretty penny).
So, really, take a look around. The TDI Golf gets 48mpg, and the TDI Jetta gets a little less. And if I had to choose an engine to last me forever, I'd go for a German Diesel over anything else. Some of the Honda Civics get 41mpg (and cost about $13K), and the ~20-year-old beater Honda is a pretty common sight around here, so they must hold up fairly well. Not everything out there is an 8mpg Excursion or a $60,000 luxury Barge.
Man, It's hard enough keeping my pet from panicking on a trip to the vet. How the heck do you bring a car to the mechanic without letting it know where you're going?
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
you know, those cyber-pet things the 12 year olds would carry around, they'd have to hit the "FEED" button to keep the pet from getting sad and dying...
So, to reset the emotions, you just take the battery out of this toy as well?
already has emotions! its hate me cause it dont run right
And I thought these were bad:
Pontiac Aztec
Dodge PT Cruiser
Dodge Prowler
not to mention some newer pick up trucks
and trucks with 8" alloy tires (WTH?)
org9
-Michael
Berto
The Tamagotchi, the Aibo, the new cat, and probably droves more stuff I've missed--and now the car. Are the Japanese so emotionally deficient that they need synthetic surrogates?
It would see how pissed off I was at doing a 12 second 0 to 60, then it would cry as I powershifted it through every gear repeatedly.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
If I get pulled over for road rage who does the officer give the ticket to?
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
It would be great if the emotions were offered as several options to the vehicle. That way you could have your choice between the "teeny-bopper mall rat" or the "knight rider-ish intellectual".
"Yeah, gimme the AM radio, fake wood paneling, and the 'start drinkin' at 9am, deadbeat, wife beater' personality".
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
you could always reprogram the ECU...
...but then you'd probably get sued under the DMCA.
continuously during car sex? :)
... happy at the time.
The atmosphere is rather
like car crashes werent traumatic enough!
"i was saying gnu-rd"
Since the emotional car exists now, how about making the best of it and make it throw a fit if the driver yaks on his cellphone while driving ?
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
So once a month, right before the transmission drops you are faced with a major dilemma... your care suddenly becomes quite bitchy and participates in road rage. When a car in front of you signals a turn into your lane, your car speeds up to block it off... "It's my lane! HONK HONK!" your car screams like the grinding of bad breaks.
You tell your call to "knock it off and be polite" but it doesn't want to listen, so it cranks up the radio playing Britney Spears, locks the doors, locks the seat belts, and deploys the airbags. Suddenly over the radio you hear "I'll teach you to be mean to me"... just as your car starts accelerating to 120 MPH on a rough, windy, mountainous road with a cliff on one side.
I'd had to see what tractor-trailers equipped with this kind of attitude do.
Ever need an online dictionary?
Now all it needs is a red oscillating light mounted on the the front and a Turbo Boost button.
Haven't been paying attention to the way major industries play their games lately?
The day you see an energy efficient car on the market is the day you'll see Microsoft release a product that goes out of its way to make it easy to share information with other company's platforms.
"You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help" -- Calvin
Had you read the article, you would know that it does not describe what stimuli cause the car to cry. Please don't tell me to read the article, which I have already done, before reading it yourself!
Y'know, this opens a whole realm of possibilities, none of them good.
o A manic-depressive car, ala Marvin the Paranoid Android, a constant stream of complaints about the pains that the car is having. ("I have a pain all along my left strut...")
o A car that has bladder problems that leaks when it gets excited in traffic...
o A car that refuses to start because it is having a bad hair day or dies in traffic because it is having an anxiety problem...
No, I think I've got enough to deal with just dealing with the human race...
--Storm
and it looks as though it'd handle in a cross wind about the same as a sheet of plywood.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
And if it thinks the environment is too happy, it will take a picture of the back seat and blackmail you with the contents.
JET Program: see Japan, meet intere
Hmmm...a "happy" atmosphere, eh? Could well end up w/r- or x-rated pictures that way.... ;)
Given that the majority of car sex is undertaken by teenagers (who can't find any privacy in their parents' homes), and that this car will automatically take photos of sex (i.e. "happiness") going on inside the car, I can hear the jingly-coin sound of class action lawuit re: unintentional underage porn coming Toyotas way...
Of course, given the typical sexual incompetence displayed by inexperienced teenagers, I would guess that a good 50% of the sex will be too lousy to register on the car's "happy sensors" (if it has "desperate single-mindedness" sensors, maybe...).
Sure this is sick - but I can blame it on sleep-deprivation. What's Toyota's excuse?
When I read the story, I immediately thought of MS-bob and clippy from Office. When you are driving, there is no need for your car to know how you are feeling. If it tries to do something like talk or appear on a display, it will just get in the way. Perhaps it may be even dangerous to drive with it enabled if its too distracting. Like a cell phone is dangerous on the road. Remember that driving at 45mph you go several hundred feet in a matter of seconds. If I was driving that fast I would not want my car to talk to me. Even if I was at a standstill it would not be dangerous but just really annoying. I hate clippy because I want to do my work and in my car I just want to drive.
I can see something usefull like a GPS system and an electronic map integrated together. I have seen one of these cars once and they are cool and usefull. Perhaps this and a integrated cell phones for emergencies but thats it.
http://saveie6.com/
Wouldn't this kind of information be usefull in making insurance claims. Perhaps the emotion cameras should detect fear (ie. just before an accident) and then take pictures of the surroundings of the car.
They chould name it the Toyota Gay.
Maybe with some hacking it could really be a fun car
I assume you mean porting linux over to it.
Yeah, that's what I need - a car that, after I trade it in for a newer model, it follows me around for a month or two and tells all my friends what an asshole I am. Yeah, sign me up for that...
ABSURDITY, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
Red lights on the front of a car are not legal. And blue lights ANYWHERE on a civilian car are very illegal. (yes, even the stupid inefficient blue headlights everybody has.)
</US centric>
Hasn't anyone seen the obvious implications of this "car"? It's an emotional recording device... a "friendly photographer", and a treasure trove of data for pesky lawyers, intrusive governmental swine, dishonest cops, annoying reporters, cheap bastard insurance companies, and is rife with hacking possibilities...
This - along with the alcohol detector - is yet another useless piece of crap that I will pull the fuse on if it's mandated in my car... I for one will NEVER buy a car with this junk in it...
Give me a car... let ME drive it - stay the hell out of MY life... No tracking... no "helpful" features...
The car can give you shopping information? Does this mean communicates with a source to get current information? If it does, ten points goes to the first person to modify it to grab slashdot headlines.
Something I've always wanted to do, might do it one day...
Install a matrix of tiny bright lamps on the back window, enough to display detailed graphics or text, but with enough space to not impair vision.
Then, I can have a row of buttons on the dash, such as:
1) display text 'Back off'
2) display text 'ASSHOLE'
3) flip the bird - animated hand/finger
4) display text 'thanks' (for letting me in)
5) anything else I feel like
If such a system was really smart, it could be programmed by a PDA.
But if a car had enough smarts, it could display such messages automatically.
-- In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was UNSIGNED, and the main(){} was without form and void...
Herbie!
My kid has 2 of those yappy robo-dog things that sit up and show different emotions in their LED eyes. Who's the fucking moron that didn't put an "off" switch on these things, and decided that the battery compartment needed to be screwed on!
Just what I need, my cars going to "wake up" and start honking its horn in the middle of the night because of thunder, and I'll have to wait 20 minutes for it to shutup on its own.
So... how long before we get the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Cars (SPCC)? Will you get charged for car abuse? Can the SPCC take your car into custody because you didn't keep it in a nice clean garage?
Time to stop having amorous secret liasons with your mistress in the family car then.
I am PISSED off, and I can do the quarter mile in under 12, and oh yeah, I'm PAID FOR.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Does it do "stoned" or "mildly drunk?"
This thing looks a lot like a four-door version of the BMW Isetta.
This concept Toyota could only come from the same country that gave us the Aibo. It's cute, friendly, and completely ridiculous--technology for technology's sake. Again, a quintessential modern-day Japanese idea. (On the other hand, some of their other ideas--such as the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius--are quite nice, and long overdue. I just hope enough people can overcome their SUV craze to buy these).
the car will also take pictures when it determines the atmosphere inside is a happy one
POSSIBLE SCENARIO:
Teenage guy borrows the car from his parents to pick up his girlfriend. Later that night the atmosphere inside the car is a happy one. Car takes photos and faxes them to the parents.
:)
I do not understand that. Why would I want a car with emotion? I want a car to take me from point A to point B. Period.
Its the same thing that speech recongnition: I do not talk to machines, I talk to people. I do not understand why people want to push useless technology into anything they can think of. Somebody needs to use common sense and see through this B.S.
(do not even get me started on "Wearable Computers"...)
Picture Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother in Pod.
Sister: Bobby is touching me again.
Mom: Bobby, stop it!
Brother: I'm not doing anything, Liz is trying to get me into trouble.
Mom: I don't care don't do it anymore. Dad is trying to concentrate.
Dad is sweating from four hours driving with the constant bickering from the backseat.
Sister: HAHA! You got in trouble!
Brother: Shut up!
Dad: (screaming) If I hear one more noise from this car, I'm going to turn this car around, and were not going to Disneyland.
Sister and Brother: OK OK, we'll be good.
30 seconds later.
Pod: (in a girly voice) Owwww, Bobby is hitting me.
Dad: (now turned around, facing the backseat, screaming on the top of his lungs) Bobby, I TOLD YOU TO STOP IT! DO I NEED TO COME BACK THERE?
Brother: (half crying) No.
Dad: (still yelling): Liz, I TOLD YOU TO STOP BEING A TATTLE-TALE! DO I NEED TO COME BACK THERE?
Sister: (crying) No. Mom: Jim, keep your eyes on the road. I don't want to get killed.
Dad: You stay out of it, Lois!
POD: (snickering)
Seems just like my old vacations already.
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You know who I think is crazy? All my ex-girlfriends!
I can't wait for my car to get jealous the next time me and my date are in the back seat fogging up the windows.
There's some very emotive cars in this movie, and an image here.
The lights display YOUR mood. The car's not interacting with you here, its reacting to you.
I'd like it if I could see that the guy behind me is pissed off and driving careless. Least then I can get out his way. You can only say so little with a horn. Its a wonder that no one has attempted to extend better communication between others while on the road.
This seems like it would improve it.
Also, no one said there'll be only one personality. These are people developing this here. It will be designed in our best interest. Better than the crap Ford tries to put out. I feel like I'm in a Fisher-Price mobile in thos things.
Even as a concept car, something like this scares me, because it says to me that these execs are missing the point of automobiles in the first place.
/. crowd, but whatever!)
Remember the cars that would talk to you when the door was ajar, or if your seat belt wasn't buckled? Chances are you don't, since NO ONE BOUGHT THEM. (ok, you might remember because this is the
People don't want cars that read their emotions, or try to take pictures when they are happy--they want cars that are safe, efficient, & SAFE. And call me crazy, but I don't think offering shopping info and taking pictures would constitute a safe driving environment.
If I ever get rear-ended because some idiot in a "cute" car was too busy looking at an ad or a picture from the car to watch the road, I will seriously turn into Michael Douglas in "Falling Down".
My car (a Citroën Saxo, which is everything you want but not a high-end car: http://www.citroen.fr/options.php?c_version=1CS8A
) slurps a little less than 4 L/100km (makes a little less than 59 mpg), and it does that using diesel (which overall is a more energy-efficient combustible than gasoline, not to mention more tax-friendly in my particular locale).
Oil is to be changed every 15000 km (9500 miles), or one year (whichever first). There is of course a display on the dashboard which shows not only the amount of oil left but also when you have to change it (and the tool-less reset procedure is documented if you really insist). So, it looks like the particular BMW feature you mentioned is actually quite commonplace nowadays...
Today's modern high-pressure common rail diesel engines (you named the first ones, the VW TDI, but
more recent and better stuff exists, like the PSA(=Peugeot/Citroën) HDi (really the best out there), Fiat's JTD, Renault's dCi, and even Ford Europe TDCi) are even more efficient, because under 3000-3500 rpm they use a much leaner mix ; yet once the boost kicks in, you have plenty of spare power. Actually, a car like the Peugeot Coupé 406, while initially strange (what, a Pininfarina pleasure car with a diesel ?) makes a lot of sense....
The special "lean" version of the Lupo announce 3 l/100km, that is, 78 mpg (!). However, to achieve that, VW uses a 3-cylinder engine which has atrocious noise and vibration characteristics. And while this is mostly a city-only car (because of its tiny size, despite a nice efficiency, this engine is a bit asthmatic as soon as you reach 90 km/h
(and unfortunately, there aren't versions of that car under the SEAT or Skoda brands, which are usually "VW technology at non-VW price")
The only drawback with diesel nowadays (that is, once your locale has passed laws mandating better refinement of the fuel itself, like EU has required like 10 years ago), is the particles emission. And even that is a solved problem.
Check out's Peugeot's self-cleaning FAP (particle filter). You can get it only on 406 and 607's, and on Citroën Xsara and C5 (higher end) for the moment, but it's bound to spread rather sooner than later. Check out Citroën and Peugeot's sites; how this device works is amazing.
In the near future, I can't wait for the arrival of the new generation common PSA/Ford smaller-size HDi engine. Basically, they want to do in 1.3 L what is done with the current 1.6L HDi rig, performance-wise (but with a proportional consumption...)
Middle term I want to see the electric camshafts replacing the crank stuff (this allows for a much more flexible cartography, which removes the need for some compromises). Also, the alterno-starters are going to rock in traffic jams (basically, the alternator and the starter are replaced by a single device, which is able to generate electricity when the thermic engine runs, and is able to not only start the thermic but also move the car up to 40 km/h. The use of this device is to run electric when you basically don't move and the battery's good. And as soon as you move again, the thermic smoothly kicks in. Check out for this Dynalto(PSA) / Adivi(Renault/Nissan) feature !)
Long-term, hydrogen-based stuff -- but I'll make a new post on slashdot beforehand.
is it just me,
or is this a step back in motor vehicle attractiveness
Toyota Pod, aka, the ugliest car you have have ever seen in your entire life..no joke
"Think, It aint illegal.....yet" - George Clinton
Hmmm, I can just hear it:
This car is happy to move for you and stop again with the knowledge of a job well done.
Does this mean it will have Genuine People Personalities? I'm sooooo depressed!
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
When will this car appear on Lunacy8m's funky webcam and digital camera site?
How about things that are actually important in a car, like:
1- Self driving.
2- Standard Built in GPS for those of us who frequently go to unknown places.
3- Built with modern polymers, not metals and older plastics, so that the car weighs less (Resulting in better fuel efficiency than any hybrid engine can give you.), costs less (Polymers stronger than steel are already nearly equal to steel in price, and will drop in price as use rises and more is produced on a massive scale.), and is safer (Polymers allow for strength in the frame to be better distributed in a crash.).
Just some food for thought...
My immediate reaction is screaming at the dashboard "don't drive angry! Don't drive angry!"
My apology to any Japanese in the audience if I'm wrong.
The story I heard was that life in Japanese cities had gotten so high stress, long hours that many people were looking for ways to have social/emotional release on demand. Being able to pick up a toy at any time of day or night was considered preferable in some ways to other people and pets that were less flexible and asked for more than a change of batteries. It's also cheaper than depending on call girls and such.
I know my Golf will need help when it finally learns how to read my emotions on the road.
Incomprehensible. It'll be just minutes before it goes catatonic. As soon as a Boston cab driver does his normal shit in front of me, my poor car will sense the deepest, blackest rage imaginable, while at the same time receiving instructions from my feet and hands to do dangerous, life-threatening things that will make me feel better.
If it's a good car it'll die immediately.
(bringing to mind many Asimov robot stories)
Is it just me, or are some companies getting carried away with technology? Ill admit some features may be rather handy, but for the most part, products of today's society seem to be crammed full of features that most people dont want/need in order to justify a absured cost. Does anyone else besides me see a pattern here?
At first this reminded me of the happy doors and helpful elevators in Hitchiker's Guide (and I was sharing Marvin's loathing of them) but the more I thought about it, the more I found myself channeling a 22 year old Japanese girl (I'm neither) and thinking, awww, how cute.
I want my motorcycle to change colors like a mood ring, can they do that too?
closed minded is as closed minded does
i can see it now...
mommy... why won't the car have sex with me?
The dog got loose on my computer, and now there's XP all over the screen. -Paul www.ploeb.net
btw, 10 years of driving with no accidents..knock on wood panneling..
TV preferences... Yep, that's just what we need in cars...
But as for the rest of it, this is nothing new. My car already is cranky and hard to motivate on a cold morning. It gets hot if it has to sit in traffic for very long and it whines and groans if you neglect it. The transmission definitely has a mind of its own and can be very stubborn at times, and likewise, the steering tends to pull you in whichever direction it prefers. Its very easily swayed by the changing winds, and doesn't easily pass over the bumps in the road, letting every little flaw or problem be well known. I go broke buying things for it just to keep it going, and of course if I ever try to have any fun with it, it objects and complains the whole time. The paint job's starting to show its age, and the back end sags. Boy those younger, newer models are looking tempting these days. Worst of all about once a month it blows a gasket on somethingorother and soon after leaks some kind of fluid. I guess by now I should be able to read the warnings and see it coming. At least when I discuss it with the guys its good to know that they have most of the same problems, and sometimes even have some good pointers.
Oh well, what can you do? At least now I know why cars have always been referred to in the feminine sense: "Boy, she's a beaute!"
--
"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." - Homer Simpson [1F10]
What is wrong with the Niponese, give me a break, a car with emotions, whats next a toliet with emotions. It is only happy if you have a regular movement in the morning and don't spray the bowl? I don't really understand how this would attract anyone. Maybe they are just differnt over in Nipon, who knows. I think it would probably freak most Americans out.
Oh, you mean like THIS ???
Posting as AC because I can't be bothered to write any more.
What a complete waste of R&D money. I guess it's to cater for all those rice boys/girls with cute little pokemon figures tacked onto the back parcel shelf.
The money could be far better spent researching alternative energy methods, instead of wasting it on rediculous cars with rediculous features.
This saddens me.
due to its intensely hideous design! Seriously, why do all concept cars have to be *SO* fucking ugly?
Now I understand - cars with "Real People Personalities"(TM) - the future is becoming clearer and clearer. Wonder if it comes with an optional Nutrimatic machine....
yamsyamsyamsyamsyams? yamsyamsyams! www.goatse.cx! fapYAMSfap
I can almost imagine this -
User : Hi, I'd like you to take me to the ice cream shop.
Marvin : Oh, I'm so depressed. All my 2000cc engines which can drive an Enterprise captain to warp power against the klingons, and what am I made to do? Drive to ice cream shop.
Well, maybe I'll count 1 zillion sheeps and cows before I feel more depressed.
;-)
Cool.
My car is The Pod.
My garage is the pod bay.
My garage door is the pod bay door.
My garage door opener is Hal.
And the answer is, uh...
Ok Beavis, I give up.
My question is if a car has a personality, do you get attached to the thing? Then what happens if you need a new car? "Goodbye - I'll write everyday, I'll miss you..." ????
Do you dump it in the forrest somewhere...?
Or do you take it's brain apart ? - "My mind is going..."
Does this make my brain look big?
Just what we need the Edsel of the 00's! This thing also comes with a theft deterrent system: It's looks. After the interaction I had with a 1985 Nissan Maxima (Lights are on, Lights are on) I really don't want to have any verbal feedback from my car, let alone a Tomagotchi(sp?) with wheels.
Often in Error, Never in Doubt.
Car with emotions? What crap!
My perfect car would look a lot like a 4-wheeled motorbike. Picture one of those off-road personal 4x4's but with a peppier engine, better tires, good seats, seatbelts, roll cage, and optional winter enclosure.
Open-air cruising in summer, with only a roll cage over your head, and in winter you bolt on sides, doors, etc. Four wheels, so it's stable enough to be driven in winter, great fuel economy because it's light and has a small yet potent engine, and best of all, PLENTY OF PEP!!! You'd be able to SMOKE everyone else's econobox off the line, while still getting waaaaaaay better mileage!
...and hopefully no helmet required, because hopefully with the roll cage it'll qualify as a small car!
So PLEASE, any major automaker... PLEASE PLEASE MAKE ME ONE!!!!!
Thanks.
--R
Just don't call it a car!
I've been reloading slashdot every 5 seconds for the past 2 hours to no avail. It's time to post a new story if you don't want to be sued for criminal negligence causing the carpal tunnel syndrome.
Does it include a robotic arm in the rear window to flip off tailgaters?
Does it change it's appearance to resemble a 1982 Yugo when it senses a car thief intending to make off with an incredibly expensive car?
Does it include a breathalyzer so that it can look drunk to the police after one martini lunch too many?
When playing Rammstein, can it be set to lip sync?
When driven by a smoker, will it hack up huge loogies for them?
Does it include the inflatable Otto Pilot from the legendary movie 'Airplane!'?
Will it be banned by the RIAA for it's drivers trading MP3's while driving down the freeway?
Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
I don't know why no one has thought of this yet, or if they have why no one has implemented it yet.
What we need is a smart car that can determine if the driver's alcohol blood level is above the legal limit and affectively shut itself off preventing the drunken driver from taking to the road, it could even be smart enough to call a predetermined number (a close relative etc...) or even call a local cab.
If somehow the driver was able to bypass the systems shutdown security it would then call 911 and alert the police of the possible DUI on the road endangering other local motorists...
Cars with emotions... come on people, lets take care of the basic problems first.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
www.haidacarver.com
"Now when the car gets pissed off it proceeds to the nearest tree."
Roll cage? That's tempting people to bump you just to see you roll like a tumbleweed. Have fun.
Just remember, when you're driving you better not piss it off because if you piss it off well enough it may decide to take your life or injure you in some sort of way.
:)
I wonder if this car can have PMS?
well why don't they just hire an Edward Mulhare look-alike, change the name from "Pod" to "KITT" and hire Wiliam Daniels to do voiceovers for it.
I wonder how much of a marketing thing that would be. They could also hire David Hasselhoff for the commericials.
I can already see the Aibo chasing this thing down the street.
"Man will cease to commit atrocities when he ceases to believe absurdities" --Voltaire
Bear that in mind when doing MPG comparissons (1 Imperial gallon == 1.2009 US gallons).
Posting AC because someone else has presumably already pointed this out. If I could be bothered to look. Which I can't.
the car doesn't get suicidal when you're driving!
"In short: just say NO TO DRUGS, and maybe you won't end up like the Hurd people." --Linus Torvalds
Heyyy...
;)
;)
I wonder if the name "Pod" is in any way based on the old BBC computer game. The game (Pod) was about emotions and general human behaviour. It was aimed at little kids. You got the prompt "Pod can..." and you typed what pod could to... either cry, sing, laugh, whistle etc.
A lot of people who grew up in Australia or the UK around the BBC micro computer will remember Pod.
Damn, it was early 80's 8 bit programming at it's very finest!
Aaah.... I think I'm about to have a second childhood!
"How much truth can advertising buy?" - iNsuRge - AK47
Me: Fucking car won't start! Fuck you car! You worthless piece of shit!
Car: (whimpers, dies)
Me: ... Fuck!
"I can't let you switch me on, Dave"
"Why not you %$&%^& car?? I WANNA GET TO WORK!"
"I can't let you pollute the atmosphere, Dave"
"ARRRRRGH!"
"So there he is, risen from the dead. Like that fella, E. T." - Father Ted Crilly
pod x suv (impact)= -pod (dead passengers)
Did you take a look at that thing?
I sure as hell wouldn't want to get in an accident in one.
a concept car to be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show, next week, will attempt to read the driver's emotions, stress level and respond. [snip] the car will frown and even cry ... the car will also take
pictures when it determines the atmosphere inside is a happy one,
memorize musical taste and TV preferences and offer shopping
information.
If I wanted that sort of thing, I'd get married, not buy a car.We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry!
...but now the car will also? That's just wonderful. I have enough fun with that special time of the month as is.
Trolls make great pets. Adopt one today!
Look for stupid "sitting" services, like those offered to Cabbage Patch and Tamagotchi owners. For just a few dollars, you can have someone say nice things to your car while it's in long-term storage at the airport.
PS, why does this look so much like a BMW Isetta?
When you are heading towards a nasty accident, it starts singing "When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high..."
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry!
We want new Supra and maybe a MR2 beefed-up with a turbo/supercharger, and a 4WD Turbo Celica damnit!
If I'm contributing to the doom of humanity by burning up dead dinosaurs at least let me do it in a nice sports car instead of those overweight SUV's...
Kill'em! Kill'em all!
Sound's like you're after the typical fat man's motorbike - the Honda Goldwing. Put on the sidecar and trailer - hey then you have five wheels! An extra one for luck.....
Tom.
Oh arse
With a high-tech car like this, one would have to hope that their mechanic is not a fan of the BOFH
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
You can keep your "crying" car ... give me one of them "big boys don't cry" muscle cars of the early 70's. I remember my first car was a second-hand 1972 Grand Torino. The 300 some-odd mile trip to and from college was both a pleasure and a snap.
And nothing gave me more warm fuzzies than to step on the gas pedal and know that I had all the pickup I needed to get in and out of traffic.
And happy ? Happieness is being able to open the hood, with nothing more than a wrench and a timing light to FIX and TUNE THE DARN thing myself. Especially because mine was equipped with that beautiful boss 351 Cleveland Engine under a hood large enough to house a 400 CID 2V V8 ! Talk about elbow room !
That and the back seat was large enough to house and/or make a small family !
healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?
When exactly does it take the picture? When everybody's screaming at each other with loud "happy" voices? Or when we're spending some "happy" time with someone in the back seat?
I am a Karma Library.
... it has a 6 foot long middle finger that extends out of the roof. Only then will it truly be able to express my emotions while driving.
Karma: Professionally Doomed (mostly affected by inability to keep opinions to self)
Sorry,
I couldn't resists, am in a funny nostalgic mood right now.
Cookies... basically, what this thing is going to do is take measure of the consumers in the vehicle and report back to it's mother(manufacturer) with all sorts of advertising statistics without your even knowing, or consenting... but I'm sure it will be buried in a clause somewhere. Stealerships, er dealerships are good at that sort of thing you know.
This is what Microsoft has planned for the future of embedded systems.
These shows aren't meant to show features in their final form. They're more "here's the nifty concept that's inspiring us right now."
So, some -useful- things that might come out of this:
When the car detects anger, it cuts acceleration and top speed, giving the driver fewer chances to drive like an asshole.
The same thing could (and probably should) be done right now when it detects the driver using a cellphone.
Combined with a big mp3 drive, you can just hit the "music" button without taking your eyes off the road to fiddle with the radio to find the right music for your current mood.
You could adjust traction control on 4WD vehicles to the driver's stress level. If they're an inch of snow on the ground, the Chicago driver won't even care, but the Dallas driver is going to have a death-grip on the wheel and'll be on the verge of panic. For the latter, engage the 4WD automatically, cut power so that they're less likely to spin, and put the anti-lock brakes on "paranoid mode."
One of the problems with collision detection systems is that they're really annoying during rush hour, and there actually are situations where driving close to the vehicle in front of you. You could link these systems together so that if the driver seems alert, the system won't go off, or will go off quietly, but if the driver's dealing with fighting kids in the back seat, it sets off the "too close" klaxon at full volume.
Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
/me ducks and hides
Pet peeve: Profane people propagating perfunctory pedantry.
I'm seeing Aibo cocking his leg on the wheels and saying, "Oh, what a feeling!"
Australianus Geekus
That's like having a woman in the car even when you're alone.
I'd rather keep my driving controlled and orderly, thank you.
-Nick
That is NOT a car, it's an Aibo with wheels...
my other sig is written in brainfuck
that has to be the uglyest thing I've ever seen.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
They want to attract younger drivers? Did you see that thing in the picture?!?! They want to attract younger drivers?!!?? Hello?
Best way to attract younger drivers is to NOT make a car that looks like a giant ass.
Skiers and Riders -- http://www.snowjournal.com
So it takes pictures when it senses a happy mood...
what about when you're having sex in the back seat!?
When my dog doesn't like my mood, she runs halfway down the block and hides under a tree. When this car doesn't like my mood, is it going to go down to the supermarket and hide in the back alley?
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
I have to stop myself from saying "thank-you" to ATM machines when they give me money.
Of course I have no problem in saying much less polite things to other kinds of machine...
Funny you should mention the PowerStroke in the same message as this. The PowerStroke does do something similar, but only in coast-down situations. When you're going downhill, or slowing towards a stoplight, we'll actually turn off all the fuel, and then turn it back on again when the engine approaches idle speeds. It's a bit disconcerting at first to be coasting downhill and have the constant diesel rottle-rottle-rottle noise suddenly stop, but then you get used to it, and start coasting downhill in higher gears, to see how long you can keep the engine running w/o fuel!
Help find a cure for Gidget.
For all of you that have seen it Marvin the manicly depressed robot from Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy rings a bell, imagine starting your car up to go down to the shops and it crying because you arn't going far and it's not worth it because it could do so much more, this sounds very very strange and iffy all you need is for it to have a mood swing and *WOOSH* off it shoots down the road and you get a speeding ticket, what's going to be your excuse, Sorry officer my car is having a bad day?
~Cameron
By the Sirius Cybernetics Company?
:)
Or is it just me?
It only hurts when you survive
I know what you mean. I just had an argument recently with some guy on a Honda Civic BBS I frequent. He said that the cool blue (actually a brilliant white with a tinge of blue) bulbs helped him see better at night. I tried to explain to him that a brighter white will not put out more light (a 55W bulb is a 55W bulb), the reduction of yellow does not reduce haziness but improves vision in inclement weather, and they more easily blind oncoming drivers. Of course, he didn't want to hear this. After all if you just spend $40 downgrading your car, you'd be pissed too.
I should have said "the reduction of yellow does not reduce haziness but degrades vision in inclement weather". Yellow (but not too much yellow) is good in the rain. Recently I watched the Petit Le Mans on Speedvision cable TV. Most of the cars had plastic covers over their headlamps. Take a guess what color it was (and it wasn't cool blue).
On one hand, Four Words of Dread and Doom: "Deanna, take the helm!"
OTOH, It's nice that the KITT 2000 is only two or so years off.
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
I'm worried about the sanity of a society that makes robot cats and dogs, virtual pets, and emotional cars.
That thing looks slightly more aerodynamic than a brick.
My perfect car would look a lot like a 4-wheeled motorbike. Picture one of those off-road personal 4x4's but with a peppier engine, better tires, good seats, seatbelts, roll cage, and optional winter enclosure.
Open-air cruising in summer, with only a roll cage over your head, and in winter you bolt on sides, doors, etc.
It's called a Jeep Wrangler.
But its not particularly gas efficient.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
so the combination would be...
:)
Soyota?
or Tony?
a nice Tony, with leather seats. sounds italian enough for me.
--donabal
Safety First Day?
...but the car just kept saying that the door was a jar, which as you can imagine is both annoying and illogical.
You're Just Jealous Because The Voices Are Talking To Me.
You know that once upon a time, one of the Detroit car companies interviewed a bunch of people on "What do you want in a car" -People said, Good fuel efficency, large cargo capacity, good visiblility, 4 passenger, etc, etc. They built it, and it FLOPPED! It was called the AMC Pacer.
The rule that car designers learned from that one was to ask the question "What kind of car would your next door neighbor want?" People are more free (read truthful) about giving non-pc answers
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
Great!!! A car with the full spectrum of Japanese emotions. I've been married to two different Japanese women and take my word on this, nobody deserves to have a car like this.
So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
Just think revision .01 of Eddie from _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_...scary stuff alright...
This can't be true, just look at historical fact. When did KIT ever start crying because Michael Knight was being shot at?
Th
Well, I hope they put in 'embarrasment' in their pack of emotions as well, because I would certainly feel embarassed driving this thing... What an ugly design! There's no real front or back, and it looks like it can ride forward or backward at the same speed, just like a train or those blind, underground molerats...
"Fix it? It has been disintegrated, by definition it cannot be fixed!" - Gru in Despicable Me.
It could get very ugly
"Sorry I'm late, I had to take my car to therapy."
--Curby
--
"Extra Anus Kills Four-Legged Chick" -- Headline
Lovely. Now not only will I have my wife screaming, crying, frowning as I drive "too fast" to and from the office.
It memorizes your TV preferences? I don't know about other states, but at least here in Illinois it's illegal to have a TV within the driver's view. I hope they were talking about memorizing your kids TV preferences. People already pay little enough attention to the road. The last thing they need is to be watching TV while driving.
-D
"Car do you think maybe you could drive me to the store"
"Yes Stanley I will take you where ever you wish to go, you are my Captain"
"Okay car drive to the store...WAIT! Why are you driving over all those people?"
"Sorry Stanley you never said not to stop for people..."
IV
"These laws they're passing won't even compile anymore, let alone execute." - anon
Are you sure that Sirius Cybernetics isn't behind this?
They had something like this in each and every door (and, of course, Marvin.) Someone should take a boat, and make a mockup of Zaphod's ship.
Also, take heart. This means that the board of directors of Sony/Toyota will be first up against the wall, come the revolution (according to a copy of Encyclopedia Galactica beamed from the future.)
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
I had two funny thoughts. What if you wreck your car? What will it do then? Go AWOL and it and the nearby cars will revolt and take actions against their owners because they see us as the problem? My favorite idea is what if the computer observes a couple in the back seat steaming up the windows? :-) Or road head...
lets build another level of possible failure into them, I'm sure we'll all rush out to buy CarXP ;-)
'Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson...'
Heh... that car would hate me because I'd always be sad. I'd be very depressed if someone made me drive around in that hideous thing all the time. What happens when the car isn't happy with you? Does it refuse to unlock doors or start the engine?
My first reaction to the picture was "aw how cute" but after I really looked at the thing for a second I started feeling the same wave of contempt that I feel when I see a bug crawl out of my shower drain...you know those beatle things that look like a leaf? And when you squash it green smelly stuff comes out...thats what that car reminds me of. If I saw one of those things on the road I'd be compeled to 'squash' it and pound it into the earth. One of those "protect the women and children" responses.
and flip off the offending drivers so you can keep both hands on the wheel?
Location: Leaving vet's office.
Occupants: Driver -- sobbing uncontrolably
Canine animal -- wrapped in a blanket, not moving
Facts: Vets help animals. Animals in pain do not rest peacefully. Humans sometimes cry when happy/relieved of stress. A hurt animal is a cause of stress.
Analysis: The vet has healed the animal. The human is sobbing with joy.
Evaluation: Tell the driver a knock-knock joke and take picture to remember this happy occasion.
While I've over-exaggerated the capabilities and intelligence of the car, it does highlight an important issue to keep in mind. As we make products that start to emulate human behavior and emotions, it makes it possible for that product to hurt us through its lack of true empathy.
If, say, I were to find out that I was dying of cancer, I wouldn't care that my toaster oven continued to sit on the counter and toast toast -- it's just a machine. But if it were to ask my how my day was going and then respond to the cancer news with "Gee, that's interesting! Have a great day!", I'd end up forfeiting the security deposit on my apartment due to the damage caused by smashing that damn insensitive, smarmy piece of crap against the wall until its electronic shrieks turned into whimpering beeps.
One big drawback to diesel is that it's a bugger to start in cold weather. If you park your car outside for 8 hours while at work and its -20 or -30 out, a diesel damn hard to get started.
The LAST thing I need is Marvin the Paranoid Acura.
I don't think that machines need to be given intellect in order to experience this. A lot of people assign their cars personality as it is. I think of mine more as a steed than a mere vehicle. Think of a captain and his ship, or a pilot and her plane.
Would you ever value artificial intellect at least as much as "real" intellect? The recent ST:TNG marathon on TNN got me thinking about Data's value as a human being. They treat his death on the show as irreversible, yet any software-based life is fundamentally capable of being recreated in a much easier fashion than its biological counterpart. Wouldn't that loss of appreciation for the value of life detract some from the relationship? As much as I value my car, if I wreck it, insurance buys me another one. I don't grieve.
Just further proof that the Japanese have gone from militarism in the early part of the last century to the most pathetic displays of obsessive cuteness in the latter half.
It is like an entire nation of Margaret Keane paintings collectors.
So what's it going to do when I plop in Monday morning with a ripping hangover? Will it preform more sluggishly, object when I try too accelerate, or complain when I try to go up a hill? What's the car going to do if I ever manage to get my groove on with a girl in the back seat? This seems like about the most rediculous invention I've seen in a long time. Couldn't these people be doing something at least semi-useful with their time?
Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here
it's a service interval indicator
since most (every other) service is basically an oil change, some may call it an oil light...
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
What if the car gets emotions of it's own? It'll be like Steven King's "Christine." The last thing I need is my car saying "Cheer up!" or "How can you listen to that crap?" "Sorry, I won't unlock the doors until you turn that frown upside down!"
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Being able to pick up a toy at any time of day or night was considered preferable in some ways to other people and pets that were less flexible and asked for more than a change of batteries.
Don't forget "more socially acceptable." You don't see a lot of executives in high-stress jobs whip out a 12-inch rubber cock during an all-nighter, even though all it asks in return is a change of batteries. =)
It's also cheaper than depending on call girls and such.
That's like not buying orange juice that's not from concentrate. There are some things that you just have to set aside money for, and make your budget from what's left.
Wait until MS starts putting Windows in cars. All those jokes about "If cars were built like Windows they'd blue-screen on the highway and need to be rebooted" would come back to haunt us. Guess /.'rs would be pushing for an open source car then, a Linuxmobile.
MS could also put XP-like security on it. It sends the driver's biological functions back to Redmond and if it sees any major changes assumes it is a different driver and stops working. Sorry! Should've read the license!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
It's smiling at me! Smiling!
DEAR GOD, MAKE IT STOP!
blog |
...have the "terror" emotion, for that brief moment before its little shell is crushed by an oncoming SUV or semi?
This car is obviously going to be like Sirius Cybernetics' first attempt at GPP (i.e. Marvin). I can see it right now... cars driving into the lake because they think their owners would like to see them rust. "I could go stick my head in a bucket of water if you like."
______________________________
Billcow@twcny.rr.com
And the people are more than slightly packed into the cities. Consider that several years ago one of the more popular children's "pet"s was a preying mantis. Because it didn't use up much room.
Not exactly cuddly though. The artificial cat may be an improvement. (Not sure about the Aibo, though. It didn't look exactly petable.)
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Great. Now we're going to have Geo Metros with inferiority complexes repeatedly crashing into Jaguar dealerships.
Walk by one of these babies on a lot, and it starts begging you to buy it....
Too bad Douglass Adams didn't live to see the beginnings of Sirius Cybernetics... I can see the options now: Infuriatingly Cheerful or Manic Depressive.
Seriously, in the mid-80s my parents go a car that talked ("Your door is ajar", "Your eninge oil pressure is low"). It was cool for a while, but then got really annoying. How long before the fake personallity gets annoying. Could this become Toyota's Bob?
You know that once upon a time, one of the Detroit car companies interviewed a bunch of people on "What do you want in a car" -People said, Good fuel efficency, large cargo capacity, good visiblility, 4 passenger, etc, etc. They built it, and it FLOPPED! It was called the AMC Pacer.
And the fact that it was ugly as sin and would rust from breathing on it heavy didn't have anything to do with it? And I suppose the fact that they leaked oil like a sieve around the rear crank seal didn't help any. Oh yeah, the exhaust manifold tends to crack and the ignition module wears out over time, but these are just icing on the cake, yeah?
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
The "Oil Light" on my BMW is not an oil warning light like most other cars have.
When I turn the ignition, before the electronic odometer/trip odometer is displayed, a "service meter" pops up for about 3 seconds. It has a red section at the far left, two yellow sections to the right of the red, and (I think) 4 or 5 green sections that continue all the way to the right. The Bimmer displays a bar above one of the sections; you are instructed to bring the car in when the bar hits the first yellow, and when it hits the second yellow things start to get very important. The first time I brought my Bimmer in, 3,000 miles had elapsed since I had purchased it (I purchased it as a demo with 8K on the odometer); the service guys told me, "Oh, it's nowhere near needing a service/oil change. You're still only on the second bar".
I've been told that the system measures not only elapsed time/miles, but also measures load placed on the engine. If you like to wind it out at every stop light (like I do), then you get significantly less time on the service than other people (say, some old lady with an Automatic transmission who never takes the engine above 3500 RPMs).
Wow, this car continues the Toyota Tradition of making the ugliest vehicles on the road. Seriously, I wouldn't drive that thing unless it had some SERIOUS advantages, and crying at me and taking my picture isn't one. My girlfriend does that already, and she looks good doing it.
Even Slashdot wants to hide some things
And two weeks after you get it you will still be talking to it thusly:
"Good boy!"
"How old are you?"
nothing
"How old are you?"
and from the resulting combination of luminated parking lights you realize that it still cant use the CD player.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
last thing i want for my car is driving down the red light district and it gets all horny and out of control - now that's BAD!
my blog
I'd had to see what tractor-trailers equipped with this kind of attitude do.
Try to catch Spielberg's "Duel". It was made for TV but in Europe it was released as a film.
Actually the driver is a human (or the Devil) but that isn't important.
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
This reminded me of a Futurama episody where Bender (built from car parts) was bitten by the werecar (a Government project astray) and became a werecar itself, roaming the streets at night and causing havoc.
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
Is that you Dave? I think I smell alcohol in your breath. Could you blow into this? Hmmm! Lift your right leg. I said, your right leg! Put your left hand on your head. I said, your left hand!
Dave, you are not fit to drive. Can I call you a cab?
Somewhere in Wired there is an article about Love By Mail, a service of robogirlfriends over DoCoMo by Bandai.
There is a very good quote: "My grandfather had the geisha, my father had the bar hostess, I have Love By Mail".
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
Just don't give it the ability to tell the difference between good-looking and butt-ugly. It'd burst into tears each time it passed a reflective surface.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I want to be able to download SKINS in that system and use my own "driving playmate"... err.. I mean pet... err.. I mean AI... oh fuck it, a playmate with AI, that you don't see everyday :)
--- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
"So you've ordered me to take you through the drive-thru at Taco Bell. Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and you ask me to take you through the drive-thru at Taco Bell. Call that job satisfaction? 'Cos I don't."
~Philly
"In theory it was good, but in reality, the engine would kick down to 6 or 4 cyls while at WOT (wide open throttle) for no apparent reason. Most people said to hell with it and unplugged the 8-6-4 control module. I know this is a bit offtopic, but I had to add my .02 about something I know a little something about "
Actually, I came really close to buying a SWEET mid-80s Biarritz last year, and the 4-6-8 engine it had was what killed the deal. I knew they were made for a while, and the concept sounded like a good one, but I never heard anything good or bad about them. The vision of being on the freeway with my engine stuck in 4cyl mode was a frightening one. It's a shame, though, because that car was drop-dead gorgeous and in perfect condition.
Christina! Bring me an axe!
Since when did slashdot become so full of rednecks and intolerance that a comment like This could be modded up??
As humans, we are always exploring our boundries, be ith physical, or emotional/psychological. Its not that the Japanese are emotionally deficient, they are simply exploring further. For a Long time it has been a quest by some humans to Create Life. Talk to an AI coder, ask him/her about their intentions for trying to create artificial life or artificial intelligence. I assure you they will probably Not be an emotionally deficiant hust of a human being, but i vibrant exciting human being.
Someone please mod the parent down to -1 (score -1, Racist Troll) Where it belongs.
Firmly grab stick by exposed end, pull hard, and extract. I simply asked a question, I didn't make any judgement. There is no denying the fact that all kinds of electronic gadgets and doodaahs are extremely successful in Japan, while they never succeed in any other market. The exception being the Aibo, which seems to have found willing parents in the Slashdot community.
Congratulations, you almost passed the Turing test.
It sure has a nice smiley face grill. When the driver gets road rage, does the grill turn into a scowl and the headlights go cross-eyed?
Trickster Coyote
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." John Lennon
Ideology is for ideots.
The thing is that people said that they didn't care about looks, and the other problems you could NOT tell that first year in the showroom - it was a flop from day one. The big lesson was that people DID care about looks and sport performance.
The people claimed they wanted a box, but that their neighbor would buy the sporty car
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
Cool idea, but does it come with one of those cool cylon-ish red lights in the hood, and that fancy 18-wheeler you can drive in and out of at 80+MPH? More importantly, are Erin Gray and all that Hasselhoff leather included in the sticker price? And do you really have to fight bad guys just 'cause you drive one?
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
Oft times, a question is judgement enough. If you ask "Are these people actually that emotionally deprived" a lot of people will argue that you are calling them that, even if it can be hidden behind the guise of a question.
I'm not sure about them All being horrible failures out of asia, i know tamigatchi (sp) Had a huge following among North American children a coule years back, to a point where they were banned from Many public schools in the USA and Canada.
It's called a Jeep Wrangler
Actually, a Suzuki SJ310/Samurai, which was later replaced by the Sidekick. Lighter and much more fuel-efficient than the Wrangler, and just as fun. A bit underpowered, though, and it had a bad habit of rolling over on sharp turns (they had prominent warning labels on the doors and visors instructing the driver of this).
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
Those back seat emotions will make for interesting pix.
I have a 73 Land Cruiser that gets jealous of my other cars on a regular basis.
I bought it about 3 years ago and everything was fine. It got along with my Mustang SVO mainly because the SVO was already there when I brought her home. She was going to be my ultimate winter vehicle.
The day I got it I put it into the drive way and set the emergency brake. She seemed solid so I assumed the brake worked. I go back outside, and she was across the street against another car. Hosed the other cars bumper to hell. Cost me 400 bucks, and that was with a hookup at the local body shop. I find out later from some of the other cars in the hood that this car was talking shit to my Land Cruiser, talking about its yellow color and lack of hubcaps. So the Land Cruiser attacked this other car, earning the nickname "attack vehicle".
Later on I bought an '88 LX Mustang interceptor, complete with rollbar. Attack Vechicle was not happy and decided to open the hood at about 50mph. Luckily I was on a straight road that I know pretty well and there were no intersections comming up.
I got rid of the Interceptor after 4 months (and 4 tickets) and bought a 1963 Lincoln. I figured that the Attack Vehicle and the Lincoln would get along because the Lincoln is of the male car gender while the Land Cruiser is female.
Nope. Not too long ago the Attack Vehicle jettisoned its number 6 connecting rod cap out the side of the block. For those who don't know about cars, this is about as bad as a motor can screw up. The block isn't even useable as there is a big hole in the side.
So I got a new motor on the stand and am going through it now. I open the garage door so she can see me working on it and know that I am paying attention to her. Hopefully this jealosy will end as I will have put about 80 hours into fixing her motor.
ft
> i know tamigatchi (sp) Had a huge following among North American children
"Huge" is relative. You obviously didn't catch the magnitude of that particular craze in Japan. Compared to that the US "craze" was a mere jerk of a moribund body.
I'm not questioning the Japanse ability to create new and wonderful electronics--in fact, I very much welcome it and anticipate most new creations. But must we look for emotional fulfillment in them? The pursuit of AI is great as a means to perform useful work more efficiently and intelligently, but I certainly am not looking forward to a future where I engage emotionally with our creations (other than mere materialistic desire, that is). Then again, others are, so whatever rocks your boat.
What the world really needs is a Cherry 2000.
(look it up in IMDB).
Cryptnotic
Where is my password...
Honestly, nor would I. I dont want my air condioner to miss me, or for my clock radio to resent me. The day my fridge develops a crush on me... well, never mind.
I simply thought that it wasn't Only a weird Japanese idea of people getting into intelligent toys/appliances. I think a lot of us are pretty emotionally empty right now.
If you would have read his original post you would see he was talking about the "Happy Car."
When you turn 16 you can buy a Geo and go pimping with your best friend's mom.
I don't believe that any NNs will successfully be trained to guess what to do depending on what I'm doing or feeling or reacting to, I mean the same could be done with hardware or software even when NNs are the closest theory to what they want.
It would save more lives to consider an auto-lock to prevent drunk drivers.
There are few things in life that make me weep. This is one of them.
Actually Japan has a long tradition (brought over from China) of insects as children's pets. Ask any Japanese man over the age of thirty what he remembers about childhood, and he'll tell you about gathering beetles and cicadas and taking them home to keep as pets...usually followed by lamenting the fact that the nearby woods where he caught those insects have now been turned into a parking lot.
The rhinoceros beetle has always been the most prized, and these days you can find them sold at inner-city pet shops for up to $100. The stag beetle (with the giant pincers) and a type of cricket with a bell-like call are also popular.
I suppose that cramped housing and low maintenance do in fact help make insects a little more practical than a big old St. Bernard.
May I say that I have finally found a car that is UGLIER than the PT Cruiser. Blech! When will car manufacturers get a clue!?
Those who do not know the past are doomed to reimplement it, poorly.
I wonder if Disney will sue for patent infringement being they took the idea from the "Love Bug" movies... You know, Herbie *was* first
I hope it will have that calm, cold voice and call everybody "Dave".
um, i think you mean the ACURA NSX...
Actually, a Suzuki SJ310/Samurai, which was later replaced by the Sidekick. Lighter and much more fuel-efficient than the Wrangler, and just as fun.
:P
As a Jeep owner, I have to register my complete aghastness at the notion of a suzuki samurai being even in the same paragraph as my beloved
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
'Nuff Said.
---------
Launch all sig
could touch 100 mph at full tilt! A driver(?) and 2 passengers rode
snowmobile-fashion in the open air behind a four cylinder motor of
850cc (or 1100cc) mounted between the front wheels (Front Drive).
The single rear wheel of this three-wheeler was under the last person.
The (minimal) body was of fibreglass over a steel frame. The motor
was exposed, hot-rod style and the occupants were advised to wear
helmets.
A Brighton (UK) company called Noovah Developments sold the Scorcher
as a kit for $625. It could becarried home on a normal roofrack for
home assembly. Only 30 Scorchers were made in four years of production,
and today an example is worth a small fortune.
-British motoring writer name of Giles Chapman.
Regards,
JK
(David Bowman, EVA near HUGE Monolithic Win-PC in orbit around Jupiter) "My God - its full of Malware!"