Nissan’s Pivo 2: Tailgate the Car Next to You, Too

reuters.com ^ | 10/05/2007 | Staff

[Red Badger]

Today at the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan unveiled their Pivo 2 concept car, an electric vehicle that can drive sideways and forward, equipped with 90-degree turning wheels, a full 360-degree turning cabin, and by-wire technologies for braking and steering. There is also a built-in “Robotic Agent” with GPS navigation on the instrument panel that gievs instructions in English as well as Japanese. No word yet on whether or not this thing will ever hit the road - but wouldn’t that be cool?

[Billthedrill]

I dunno - paint the front with tiger teeth and put a machine gun on it and you’d have the baddest vehicle Play-School ever put out.

[Red Badger]

Reminds me of a big crab.................

[Zerodown]

“Babe Magnet”

In that it looks like a ben-wa ball from an Atsugi sex shoppe, I agree. But your technical description is not up to your usual semi-high standards. Does the "bobble-head" refer to those two sharp-dressing, pint-sized saki-suckers on the outside, or is it some internal feature of this wonderful machine?

Maybe this "vehicle" ain't from Detroit, but those dudes' tailor sure is!

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

The weird thing is — it probably would be a “babe magnet”.

Women don’t (generally) appreciate hot cars the way men do.

[Red Badger]

That little thingy on the right is the “bobbing Head”...........I hope that’s not too technical...............

[Red Badger]

[Grunthor]

“No word yet on whether or not this thing will ever hit the road - but wouldn’t that be cool?”

Until they started getting flattened by the Peterbilts’ and Macks’ that run up and down my highway out here, sure they would be cool.

[Red Badger]

That guy on the left looks like a Mafioso.............

[Titan Magroyne]

LOL! Nissan designers added robotics functions to the Pivo 2, ... so that a bobbing mechanical head near the steering wheel speaks in a cute electronic voice to provide companionship.
Nissan claims the robot can detect the driver’s mood by analyzing changes in facial expressions picked up by its digital-camera eyes and using a microphone that picks up the driver’s voice to detect volume and speaking speed.
The robotic head says preprogrammed phrases to deal with various emotions, such as, “Relax, don’t worry,” if the driver seems upset. Um, right. I give that thing a survival rating of 0.5 seconds the first time somebody cuts me off and the mechanical voice pops on to tell me to relax. Bury that sucker right into the dash with my fist.

Upon further reflection, the American version should have a punching bag in place of the talking robot. I notice not a word on the Pivo's top speed or time from zero to sixty, so I assume everybody in the world's going to be cutting you off to avoid getting stuck behind you.

[Grunthor]

“so that a bobbing mechanical head near the steering wheel speaks in a cute electronic voice to provide companionship.”

I once had a bobbing head near my steering wheel keeping me company but......I’d prolly get in a lot of trouble if I finished that story.

[epow]

but wouldn’t that be cool?

Yup, if you happen to be Japanese midget with no family.

But since I'm near the other end of that body size spectrum, if I was in the market for a new Nissan vehicle I would much prefer a Titan 4-door pickup.

[Unknowing]

Gayer than a Rav4, that’s for sure.

[kinghorse]

Relax, no worries.
Happy ending.

[kinghorse]

no actually that would be the cool part. and the little robot is bomberman. I wonder if you have to beat the boss to get to the next gear level. Either way, good see the little fellow get some work after the atari gig went south.

[dalereed]

I step on snails ans squash them also!

[Old Professer]

“Pivo 2 can be recharged by plugging a cable into a regular home socket and travels 125 kilometers (78 miles) on a single charge, according to Nissan.”

Watch out for that nasty whiplash when you reach the end of the cord, though.

[bert]

Remember please that the young adult Japanese are robot freaks. Anything robotic is suber cool.

Nissan couldn’t resist one upping Honda’s Asimo with a robotic car.

Why walk with a robot when you can drive in one?

[Dumpster Baby]

That's the targeting sensor. :o)

[Old Sarge]

All part of the ... service...

[bert]

.....it probably would be a “babe magnet.....

Summer of ‘06 I had the pleasure of working with an extremely talented 20 year old Japaneese girl. She was a bonefide artist and worked in metals. Most of her creations involved robots or parts of robots.

She will be positively orgasmic over the Pivo.