Nissan is apparently taking a pause from building cars so that they can give the world its first self-parking slippers. The company has taken a small chunk of its automated vehicle smarts and applied it to a traditional Japanese hotel experience. The end result here is silly, but also kind of charming.
The company opened the doors of a new hotel in Japan that it calls the ProPILOT Park Ryokan. And everything from the guest slippers to the pillows that in the rooms have some interesting tricks. What really seems to get the attention of guests are the slippers. These slippers start off neatly lined up in the lobby and when the guest is done with them, they can be automatically returned to their starting place with the push of a button on the front desk. That’s because they really have tiny wheels and motors, along with a wireless connection to a central hub that commands the slippers to move when needed.
The floor cushions and tables in the guest rooms are equipped with the same technology. The TV remote too. It knows where it belongs on the table and will return there on its own. I guess the autonomy system works so well in Nissan’s cars, they just had to try it with other things.
Nissan Develops Self-parking Slippers [Technabob]