The far-out future is here: Toyota's new concept vehicles out-do science fiction (great pics)

Yahoo News Photos ^

[Wolfstar]

Yahoo News caption: Toyota's new concept vehicle i-unit is driven in during its unveiling in Tokyo, Dec. 3, 2004. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

The i-unit, which resembles a wheelchair, is designed to help people get around. It will be displayed at an exposition in Aichi, central Japan, next year. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

The compact sized vehicle, which runs on lithium-ion batteries, enables the passenger to move among other people in an upright position in low speed mode, while the vehicle reclines in high speed mode to lower the centre of gravity and ensure stable handling, the company said.

[Wolfstar]

If it comes to that, count me out of this world.

Awwww...spoil sport. [wink]

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

That would be my instinct as well. : )

[Chemist_Geek]

It was a 1995 Saturday Night Live skit. I remember watching it and howling with laughter, because of how dead-pan they played it. I mean, you've seen those insurance commercials on cable TV... I thought it was so funny, I remembered it well enough to Google the script nine years on.

[onyx]

A robot that does all the housework would be welcome.
In fact, I'd go and sit on Santa's knee to beg for one
of those. :)

[mountaineer]

Right you are, Ken.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Drats. Could have been fun ;0)

[Wolfstar]

There was actually a Japanese Anime about a robotic hospital bed that, when it's occupant expresses his dying wish to see the ocean one last time, does everything it can to make that wish come true.

The idea is really kind of touching. Of course, maybe I'm thinking of the old Waltons episode where some old lady is dying and wants to see the ocean. Oh no, wait! It must have been the Little House on the Prairie episode where some kid is dying and wants to see the ocean, and the kids take him on a train trip. Hey, maybe those Hollyweird writers ripped off the Japanese idea!

[ArGee]

The robot won't let him die -- which will lead to a spate of reprogram-the-robot crimes by heirs wanting to get their hands on Grandpa's loot.

Except he won't have any because he will have lived long enough to spend it all.

In fact, that'll be the end. The Robot will say, "Insert another token to keep living" and Grandpa won't have another one.

GAME REALLY OVER.

Shalom.

[gortklattu]

are those condoms on her knee?

Good. I thought I was the only one thinking that.

[Wolfstar]

Oh, thanks for telling me it was a Saturday Night Live skit. Still, I thought it was brilliant of you to post it. [grin]

[dave k]

So this isn't too far fetched???

[ArGee]

There was actually a Japanese Anime about a robotic hospital bed that, when it's occupant expresses his dying wish to see the ocean one last time, does everything it can to make that wish come true.

And at the end it tosses him in?

Shalom.

[Little Pig]

Only, in the Anime, once the bed gets out of the hospital, it runs into the Japanese Police/Defense Force/whatever and they start attacking it, thinking it has gone rogue (no one knows why it leaves the hospital until the very end), so it starts adding to itself: weapons, armor, various other upgrades. The story is touching, at the end, but the lengths the bed goes to in order to accomodate its occupant are kind of funny.

[Wolfstar]

A robot that does all the housework would be welcome. In fact, I'd go and sit on Santa's knee to beg for one of those. :)

Me too! They've been promising such a thing for decades, and so far all we've gotten is that round robotic vacuum. Big disappointment. I actually wouldn't mind a robot nanny to pick up after me, remind me to pay the bills, and do all sorts of household chores. That way, I'd have more time for FR.

[Arthalion]

Hey, maybe we're just being too short sighted. The gaywad clothes might be some super-slick wwind and rainproof cloth to protect you from the elements, and the wierd shoulder, elbow, and knee pads might be Toyota's ingenious new "Personal Air Bag" system to protect you during those inevitable collisions (very important since they seem to be removing the concept of the crumple zone). I doubt it, but you never know what they were thinking...

[Little Pig]

No, once it reaches the sea, the old man in it dies, and the bed simply stops right where it is. The nurse who was caring for the old man finally catches up to it (and the Japanese Army, which has been trying to stop it, with the usual results), and explains what it was trying to do for the man.

[Wolfstar]

You know...I wouldn't mind going like that.

[ArGee]

I actually wouldn't mind a robot nanny to pick up after me, remind me to pay the bills, and do all sorts of household chores.

Since the 1950s we've seen the invention of the vacuum cleaner, the electric stove, washing machine, and microwave oven. All have been time or labor saving devices.

Now, do you feel less tired and like you have more time than before those things existed?

Shalom.

[Wolfstar]

So this isn't too far fetched???

Snicker...but no. I've been waiting for something like that all my life.

[ArGee]

You know...I wouldn't mind going like that.

I might enjoy going out the way Tommy Lee Jones did in Space Cowboys. But I'm not sure I'd want to just run out of tokens for my robot.

Shalom.