Nissan Launches Self Driving ProPilot Chair ; Guess It’s Time To Be Lazy Again

After self-driving cars were introduced, now self-driving chairs are here to rule. To promote its self-driving ProPilot system, Nissan Motor Corp. has found a very creative solution. They have developed self-driving chairs that wait in line and automatically move along an already set path.

The self-driving chair aims to reduce the trouble of customers, standing in long lines for their turns especially outside crowded restaurants. In a recent Press release, Nissan stated, "The ProPilot chair automatically follows another chair that's ahead of it while maintaining a fixed distance in an already set path."

How does the tech work?

The battery-powered self-driving chair is designed to make waiting in long lines fun. The ProPilot chair takes passengers without any extra instructions along set paths. There's an embedded camera in the chair that detects the distance to the other chair that's ahead of it. Just as one chair moves, the next one moves as well while maintaining a fixed distance.

The Epoch Times Reports, when a customer reaches the front and stands up from the chair, the weight sensor makes the chair automatically navigate back to the start of the line.

What A Promotion!

The video demonstrates the ProPilot chairs queuing customers outside of some pretty busy shops. Inspired by the Serena minivan, the chairs are based on the tech in Nissan's latest car equipped with the self-driving technology, launched in August.

Reactions on social media are awesome; people have even compared the ProPilot chair to Wall-E.

So...the Wall-E timeline has officially begun? #NissanProPilotChair https://t.co/If3sZ7zmvx pic.twitter.com/12scq9yidE

— Tori (@tortorj) September 28, 2016

For Nissan, the ProPilot chair offers a promotional means to the auto manufacturer's latest semi-autonomous minivans. For the cars, the technology aims to ease driving in heavy highway traffic. Nissan also has plans to offer lane-change capability, in 2018, which is similar to present Tesla's Tech.

Technology designed to help visitors, as well as customers, wait in line could provide huge benefits in places with huge population density. Nissan promises that selected restaurants will also have ProPilot chairs that will shuffle customers in the queues next year. While Tokyo has more than 100,000 restaurants, long queues are very common.