Technabob » nissan

Nissan Pivo Concept Car Has Wing-like Doors; It Can’t Fly But It Can Park Itself

Hazel Chua — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:00:41 +0000

When I was still a kid, I imagined that cars of the future would eventually have such advanced features that would allow them to fly, park themselves, or transform into vehicles that could travel not only in land, but also in water. Nissan’s Pivo car concept hits just one of these three points, and while it’s still a concept for now, who knows? We might actually see a few of these on the road someday.

The Pivo was originally unveiled back in 2007, but it has gone through a major re-design and has been enhanced with a ton of cool features in this upgraded version. Nissan revealed the Pivo 3 electric car concept as a sneak preview of what’s to come at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The doors of the Pivo look pretty cool, and they kind of look like wings from the front view. It also features all-wheel steering, which lets it turn on a dime. But the thing that I find the coolest is the Automated Valet Parking (AVP) system, which will let the driver park itself without assistance from the driver.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What do you think?

[via DigitalTrends via Dvice]

BlueDrone: An Android Controlled R/C Car

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:51:08 +0000

If you’re a fan of toys like remote controlled cars and smartphones like I am, this BlueDrone toy will catch your attention. It’s like the rolling, wheeled version of the AR.Drone smartphone-controlled flying toy.

The BlueDrone Android app connects to the car using Bluetooth from the smartphone and has a wireless range of 30-feet. The app allows the driver to use on-screen controls for the car or the phone can be tilted to drive. The car itself is a Nissan GTR in 1:20 scale, and can pair with up to eight devices at once time. The car measures 8″ x 3.2″ x 2.75″ and weighs in at a bit over half a pound.

The BlueDrone project is seeking $200,000 to cover production costs to bring it to consumers, which is one of the largest amounts I have ever seen on Kickstarter, but your pledge of just $59 will get you one of the first BlueDrone R/C cars if they do hit the goal.

Nissan Leaf CARWINGS Game: Get the Best Mileage!

Range — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:58:02 +0000

Anyone who’s played games on any modern console knows that your gameplay can be ranked via these Internet connected systems. I remember the first time I plugged in an old Xbox and saw how I ranked in the U.S. Now Nissan is taking a page out of the Xbox Live book with their new car, the Nissan Leaf.

If you don’t know about the Leaf, it’s supposed to be really energy efficient since it’s an electric car. It features something called CARWINGS, which will rank you regionally according to your energy efficiency level, so you can compare your driving with others.

Now that’s genius! Instead of driving fast, you are trying to drive as efficiently as possible. I remember doing something like this when I was low on gas and trying to make it to the next gas station. Now Leaf drivers can do the same, except it’s a lot further between power charging stations.

[via AutoblogGreen via Ubergizmo]

Smiling Vehicle Looks Like It’S Had Botox

Lambert Varias — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:08:41 +0000

At the Tokyo Fiber SENSEWARE, the same exhibit that gave us those creepy robot pillow vacuums, Nissan Motor and the Hara Design Institute Nippon Design Center also showed off another weird concept: a model of a car that can smile, i.e. it has a line on its bumper that moves and curves upward.

The effect is achieved using animatronics and a polyurethane elastomer fiber called ROICA, which “can stretch by 500% to 900%, and shows outstanding recovery from stretching.” The car’s face looks too stiff to me though.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As we all know, communication between drivers on the road is limited to simple gestures, like waving or pointing, honking horns, giving each other the finger while mouthing “learn to drive a-hole!”, driving parallel to each other so that they could cuss and yell, stopping and beating each other up, and other similar signs that have ambiguous or negative connotations. In the future our cars will be able to smile and say to the other cars, “Hi there! I have the right of way, but since you’re unaware of the concept, go right on ahead and mess up the flow of traffic.” And if the other cars don’t smile back, hopefully our cars will frown before transforming and begin beating the shit out of those other cars. The future will be awesome, and it all started with this Botoxed car.

[via Diginfo]

Nissan Rock Mystery Vehicle – My Guess: Cars for Cats

Technabob — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:04:50 +0000

The guys over at Yanko Design came across this mysterious miniature vehicle called ROCK.

Created by Mexico City industrial designer Alberico J. Camacho, the ROCK dons a tiny Nissan logo, and looks something like an oversize bowling ball on wheels. Or maybe the Dark Helmet that Rick Moranis wore in Spaceballs.

Yanko thinks ROCK might be some kind of interactive music player, something like the Sony Rolly. I’d rather dream big. I say it’s the first generation of vehicles for felines. I bet there are electrodes in there that plug directly into your cat’s tiny brain, which let your orange tabby become a yellow cabbie (see what I did there?). Go, Toonces!

Of course, my all my hopes and dreams of kitty traffic jams were shattered when I stumbled onto Alberico’s portfolio over on Coroflot. Turns out the ROCK isn’t a miniature car at all, but a scale model prototype for a concept car that Camacho worked up for Nissan.

Apparently, the car is designed for the Guitar Hero/Rock Band crowd, and comes complete with a trunk that appears to hold nothing but a guitar.

It’s still a pretty cool design, and I like it much better than those squared off “Cube” cars that are rolling off the assembly lines these days. But damn, what will my cat do to get around now?