Toyota’s automated driving technology in its new “LQ” concept vehicle will build an emotional bond between car and driver.

The LQ concept car from Toyota will have automated driving capabilities as well as Artificial Intelligence Agent “Yui.”

Yui is a powerful AI-powered interactive agent. It trains itself through interactions with the driver and his facial expressions. It then delivers a personalized mobility experience.

Automated driving technology and Artificial Intelligence Agent Yui

The LQ team collaborated with the Toyota Research Institute to develop both Yui and the car’s automatic driving abilities

“With the LQ, we are proud to propose a vehicle that can deliver a personalized experience, meet each driver’s unique mobility needs, and build an even stronger bond between car and driver,” said LQ development leader Daisuke Ido.

What Artificial Intelligence Agent Yui does

Artificial intelligence Agent Yui can assess the driver’s emotional state and alertness using interactive voice communications. It can adjust seats to increase alertness or reduce stress.

In other human-machine interactions, Yui can adjust illumination, airconditioning, and fragrances. Yui is even able to select music in harmony with the driving environment. As well it can fill in the driver on current topics of interest to the driver.

Other unique features of the car

LQ sports the SAE2 Level 4 equivalent automated driving function.

It also has an Automated Valet Parking System that leads the car from a drop-off spot to an assigned parking space in a nearby parking lot. Enroute, sensors, and cameras automatically stop the vehicle id they detect another vehicle or a pedestrian.

Toyota has equipped the car’s seating systems, the world’s first of their kind, with multiple inflatable air bladders and an in-seat air conditioning system.

The seats and airconditioning sense whether the driver is tired or relaxed and adjust accordingly.

The car also is a mobile air purifier according to the press release. “A newly developed catalyst coating decomposes ozone into oxygen on the radiator fan. The vehicle decomposes the ozone near the ground surface, a cause of photochemical smog, as it moves.”

The electric car has a cruising range of about 300 km and can seat four persons. The LQ is the next generation of the Toyota “Concept-i”, a concept vehicle first exhibited at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show.

It took about 400 engineers and over 20,000 parts to develop. 

LQ will be on public display at the “Future Expo”, a special exhibition of the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show from October 24 to November 4.

[Related Story: Automaker Ford Using Artificial Intelligence To Optimize Daily Driving ]