Japan tests out 'self-driving chairs' that take the pain out of queuing

Japan tests out 'self-driving chairs' that take the pain out of queuing

Nissan has adapted its technology to develop chairs that automatically move to the front of a line, eliminating the need for people to stand while queuing.

Tokyo may be home to tens of thousands of great places to eat, yet many diners still have to wait patiently in line for a table at the most popular restaurants – until now.

Nissan, the Japanese carmaker, has adapted its autonomous technology to develop “self-driving” chairs that not only enable weary diners to take the weight off their feet, but to zip to the front of the queue without moving a muscle.

The empty chair then rolls to the back of the queue and the remaining chairs, and their occupants, glide forward to fill the gap. Nissan uses similar technology in its Serena minivan, which went on sale in Japan in August.

The semi-autonomous vehicle maintains a safe distance from the vehicle in front and stays in the centre of its line, with no action required from the driver.

In a promotional video for the ProPilot chair, diners seated outside a sushi restaurant are moved effortlessly to the front of the queue every time the person at the front is summoned to their table.

The chair, Nissan said, “appeals to anyone who has queued for hours outside a crowded restaurant. It eliminates the tedium and physical strain of standing in line”.

Tokyo is home to about 160,000 restaurants, but long queues outside the most popular ones are not uncommon, with some diners willing to wait hours for a seat at, say, a fabled ramen shop.

Read more : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/05/japan-tests-out-self-driving-chairs-that-take-the-pain-out-of-queuing