Toyota’s new concept car: A ‘smartphone on wheels’

Dec 1, 2011 | Uncategorized

Toyota has unveiled its latest concept car, designed to be as interconnected and customisable as smartphones. Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda unveiled the car this week, dubbed the ‘Fun-Vii’. The car is a striking black, wedge-shaped obelisk whose entire outer skin is a video display screen. Toyota previewed the car ahead of its public […]

Toyota has unveiled its latest concept car, designed to be as interconnected and customisable as smartphones. Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda unveiled the car this week, dubbed the ‘Fun-Vii’. The car is a striking black, wedge-shaped obelisk whose entire outer skin is a video display screen.


Toyota-Fun-Vii-2.jpg
Toyota previewed the car ahead of its public debut at this week’s Tokyo motor show.
“Some of you might have thought to yourselves: ‘Is this really a car?’” Toyoda said. “It’s like a smartphone on wheels.”
Drivers can customize the skin of the car to display anything from stock quotes and advertising to pictures downloaded from their mobile phones.
He said the three-seat Fun-Vii aims to add a fourth dimension of interconnectivity to the traditional functions of driving, turning and stopping.
Other features on the concept, envisioned for what Toyota dubbed the year 20XX, include an auto pilot function and an onboard 3D hologram avatar that helps with such things as traffic directions and en route shopping.
And by linking with a smart grid outside the car, the Fun-Vii can help the driver avoid road hazards and keep them continuously connected with friends in other vehicles or at home.
Toyoda tapped the keyword “Fun” for the model’s name as a nod to the Toyota brand’s new slogan in Japan: “Fun to drive, again.”
View a video ad for the car below:

All topics

Previous editions