The ProPILOT Chair is based on the same technology used in Nissan’s self-driving vehicles, which will be rolling out in trials across Japan in 2017.
This update to Nissan’s office chairs that can park themselves is yet another example of how an automated future can affect our daily lives in ways most have yet to consider.
According to the company, the chairs automatically detect and follow the chairs ahead of them, maintaining distance and following a set path. Once at the front of the line, the chairs will return to the end ready to receive the next “passenger.”
I suppose we’re lucky that Nissan hasn’t endowed these chairs with any more artificial intelligence than they need to do their jobs; an existence as mundane as this could incite the dreaded Machine Uprising.
It isn’t difficult to think of other tasks that we suffer through on a daily basis that could be alleviated by automation. How about getting out of bed in the morning? Or cleaning the house?
What mundane task would you like to see automated?
Although you’ll probably see autonomous cars on the roads before you find yourself waiting for coffee in a line of autonomous chairs, at least these autonomous vehicles don’t have to grapple with ethics.
For more information on the benefits and challenges of autonomous vehicles, check out our infographic.