The demand for a more comfortable driving experience pushes car makers to become more innovative every year. Toyota of the Black Hills can already show you models with power adjustable seats that can move dozens of directions. But we’re talking next level development here. Toyota now has a prototype of a car seat that is so high tech it can morph its shape automatically to adjust the fit for driver or person sitting it.
The shape changing seats are an effort to make sure car passengers experience the utmost in comfort no matter their size or shape. Nikkei Technology reports that Toyota Boshoku Corp showed the seat off at the Tokyo Motor show in late October early November 2017.
Calling the Seat the “Vody”, it is described as having 300 cubic parts made of elastomer all of which move individually by an actuator to perfectly fit the the body shape of the passenger. The seat is in the development phase and currently the height and body shape of the passenger must be entered into a machine for the seat adjustment to occur. But in the future the concept may lead Toyota to develop seats that can be optimized for each passenger as soon as they sit down or even as they approach the car. Or, for instance, a passenger could enter their data from their phone to change the shape of the seat for a new driver.
(Photo Credit: www.pcmag.com)
Toyota describes the “Vody” as “placing the focus on humans, with interiors that constantly conform to the driver and passenger needs.” The demonstration seat applies “finger pressure” to help with relaxation and healing fatigue. Further, the “Vody” seat and interior cabin environment can evolve from drive mode to relaxation mode to meditation mode “shifting with the occupants physical shape and mood.”