If you’re a car enthusiast – which presumably you are if you’re here – you know all too well what it’s like to become attached to a car. Through the good times and the bad, once it gets under your skin it can feel like a member of your family. Obviously, cars don’t have feelings so that’s very much a one-way relationship – except Toyota once showed it had the tech for it to go both ways.
Introduced at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show, the Toyota Pod was a car that could grow emotionally attached to a person. No, seriously.
Every bit of the car was designed to offer some kind of emotional connection. The name pretty accurately reflects the pod design, which Toyota said was chosen to evoke “an image of a protective capsule that gently envelops and protects family members”.
Toyota Pod Concept, interior
When you opened up the Pod, you’d be met by four spacious seats which could be swivelled however you fancied – be that towards the doors for more space (or to turn your back to passengers you didn’t want to speak to) or to face each other for a conversation.
There were no pedals or steering wheel, rather the driver would control the car using a right-handed joystick, a little like those you could play a flight simulator with. The car itself could then determine several things about the driver based on inputs – including your skill level and if you’re in a particular hurry to get anywhere.
Meanwhile, it would also detect your pulse and sweat (slightly gross, to be honest) to determine what kind of mood you were in. Not only could it feed cautious messages to you if you’re in a ‘bad’ mood which is reflected in your driving, but it could even reflect your emotions on its bodywork.
Toyota Pod Concept, moods
For example, a series of exterior light strips would show up orange when you’re happy, and there was even a ‘tail’ at the back which would wag like that of a dog. When you’re angry, those lights would turn red and lower a set of headlight covers to make it look mad.
Not only could it reflect your emotions, but the car itself could express over 10 different expressions. Say you parked the pod up and walked off, it would glow blue with LED tears running down its sad eyes. What a depressing image.
As well as being able to ‘talk’ to you and visually alert other road users, the Toyota Pod was said to be able to send messages into cars too. One example given is that it could wirelessly communicate things like an intention to overtake, and even say thank you once you’re let through. We presume no expletives would be possible if you had a particularly defensive driver in front of you.
Toyota Pod Concept, rear
Of course, the Toyota Pod was only ever intended to be a concept and it never even came close to production. It did however get a hilarious one-make race in Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva, complete with lights, sounds and all.
