Toyota Experimenting With Joystick Control For Cars

alphadogg writes "Today it's the stuff of video games, but Toyota is experimenting with joystick control for a new breed of compact cars and transporters. The world's biggest car maker built the technology into a couple of concept vehicles that were on display Wednesday at the Tokyo Motor Show. The FT-EV II, which got its world premiere at the event, is a compact electric vehicle designed for short trips. The car retains seats for four passengers despite being much more compact than most other cars, and packs drive-by-wire technology so it can be controlled with a joystick. The car's steering, braking and acceleration can be controlled by hand so foot pedals aren't needed, freeing up space to provide more legroom for the driver."

Comments

Johnny Cab

[Anonymous Coward]

Have a hellava day!

Re:Johnny Cab

[Mikkeles]

I wonder if Honda or Nissan will now go for a Wii controller?

They should just put USB ports into the dash

[Anonymous Coward]

Then I can use a rumblepad or even a force-feedback racing wheel.

Re:They should just put USB ports into the dash

[oldspewey]

Overkill. All you really need to do anything in this world is a mouse with one single button.

Great

[PeeShootr]

Great...because people aren't crappy enough drivers with an interface that they understand and have been using for decades.

Re:Great

[dnahelicase]

This is exactly what I need. You don't know how many times I've been driving and wished that I could use just my hands instead of me feet. This would free up my feet so I could use them to dial my cell phone, mess with the radio, flip people the middle toe...

joystick vs k&m

[Luyseyal]

What, no keyboard + mouse option?

-l

Re:joystick vs k&m

[JediTrainer]

Wicked. Hold down ALT and now I can strafe to parallel park.

Won't catch on until you can keybind

[Gorm the DBA]

It'll all be for noobs until you can keybind your macros...which requires a much more complex interface than a simple joystick...I mean, come on, what is this, pac-man?

gimme a control that lets me:

[StartMacro Name = 'RoadRage']
/swerveleft
/blinkheadlights
/accelerate 90
/flipoffotherdriver
[EndMacro]

and then we'll be talking...till then...back to the drawing board.

Re:Won't catch on until you can keybind

[oldspewey]

Great, another venue for vi / emacs arguments to play out.

reversed controls?

[meow27]

will there be interchangeable control options?
will the controls have reverse controls or plain?

will there be some nifty fire buttons?

spy hunter looks so much more realistic now.

now im waiting for a car that is controlled by a keyboard. that would be awsome

Finally

[decipher_saint]

A car with yaw control...

Need for Speed: Reality Edition

[Stregano]

I will finally be able to drift around corners since I can't do it in real life, but I am a pretty awesome drifter in games.

Here already?

[snspdaarf]

From watching people drive, one would think many already have a hand on the joystick.

Re:Force Feedback?

[gnick]

I swear to God, Jimmy, if you bump me again while I'm driving I'll drive us into the next tree I see!

I don't understand

[Bruiser80]

Could somebody give me a car-based analogy to this article?

Re:Power Steering failure?

[bitt3n]

Very good point. I've run out of gas twice

Once is unlucky. Twice is incompetent.

Thrice is enemy action.

Re:Great...

[clone53421]

Didn't you mean up-up-down-down-L-R-L-R-B-A-start?