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Color Me Driving: A Mood-Reading Car is in the Works

TMCnet Feature

November 06, 2013

Color Me Driving: A Mood-Reading Car is in the Works

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By Nicole Spector
Contributing Writer

And to think, there was a time not so very long ago when we deemed mood rings as about as cool as it gets.

Now there's a whole hunk of automobile that can do exactly the same thing, or almost, maybe. As you may expect it is quite a bit more complicated, and it isn't just about the temperature of your fingers.

At the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota showed off its latest work in progress: the Toyota FV@ (as it is presently referred to), a vehicle designed to change colors according to the driver's mood, as well as suggest destinations based on facial expressions, and give warnings when detecting cars in blind spots. 



Image courtesy Shutterstock
Takeo Moriai, a manager in Toyota’s product planning group says that the car is aimed at "future consumers of the digital generation, who have been used to smartphones or iPads from a young age." Moriai went on to say that since technology is still "at a very early stage of development, it’s challenging for us to figure out the extent to which the car can read emotions.”

Surely, engineering such a vehicle is a challenge, but it's also a challenge to even conceive of one. Part of the weirdness in imagining it is that driving in itself is a mood changer. For instance, going 80 mph on an open highway along the coast on a clear night has a pretty nice vibe. A driver, let's call her Judy, may feel relaxed while coasting at this speed under such placid conditions. Psychologists and just people in general have talked up the calming effect of the color blue. Would the vehicle then turn blue to reflect Judy's chilled-out state of mind? And what about when conditions aren't so cheery? Like in a traffic jam when drivers are heated up and road rage is in the air. Will all the cars turn beet-red?

The facial recognition aspect is an even more befuddling element to imagine. If Judy laughs at something on the radio, will the car direct her to a comedy club? What if she is on speaker phone with her mother, would the car then suggest she go to a psychiatric ward (not a bad idea, actually)?

It's all too soon to tell, but one thing is certain: more and more computer technology is coming to your vehicle. Smile! Otherwise your car will re-route.





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