Toyota has built a 15-foot-high, 23-foot-wide, 78-ton driving simulator "for effectively analyzing the driving characteristics of average drivers." The simulator allows Toyota to work on specific driving issues in a controlled environment, and to study mental aspects of driving such as decision making, which are among the most important considerations when trying to develop the next wave of gotta-have-it safety features.

The NHTSA has a comparable simulator, and Toyota used some of that technology to create its own. There's a Lexus inside the dome, and its walls are 360-degrees of computer-animated scenery. The dome moves in all directions to realistically recreate the sensations of driving, and allows Toyota to research driving habits and test safety devices without endangering anyone. Toyota is also using the system to work on features that might benefit specific groups of people, like teens and the elderly, or tired drivers. As far as we can tell, however, Toyota's driving sim seems to lack an HDMI or component input for our Xbox 360, which is a shame.

[Source: IHT]

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Toyota builds the ultimate driving sim in the name of safety originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.