What's the news?
This friendly-looking little fella is the Toyota Concept-i, on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the States. It has been designed around the philosophy of 'kinetic warmth' - or, to put it more clearly, Toyota's belief that the cars of the future should be amiable, fun and focused on the human occupants.
Concept-i is built around a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) system that 'learns with the driver to build a relationship that is meaningful and human' - it can even measure emotion, according to Toyota, and of course like any self-respecting future car, it can be switched into a self-driving, fully autonomous mode if needs be.
The on-board AI agent of the Concept-i is called Yui and the interface has a visual representation of this intelligent machine to kick things off, before controls switch to the sweeping interior dashboard. There are no screens on the central console of the car, the Concept-i displaying information when and where it's needed, while even the exterior is interactive - Yui appears on exterior door panels to greet the driver and passengers as they approach the vehicle. Meanwhile, the rear of the vehicle shows messages to communicate about upcoming turns or warn about a potential hazard to following road users.
Anything else?
"At Toyota, we recognise that the important question isn't whether future vehicles will be equipped with automated or connected technologies," said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota. "It is the experience of the people who engage with those vehicles. Thanks to Concept-i and the power of artificial intelligence, we think the future is a vehicle that can engage with people in return."