Japanese car engineers are usually a serious bunch, especially when it comes to developing their new cars, but Toyota's white coats have come over all playful with their latest invention. It's a giant simulator, which is officially supposed to help them develop active safety technology.
However, who could resist using the world's largest and most realistic driving simulator to try out any of Toyota's cars to their limits while sat in the safety of an engineering laboratory?
The huge 7.1-metre wide dome encases a 360-degree video screen, which gives a life-like all-round view of the world while you're at the controls. As the driver works the steering, gears and other controls, computer controlled hydraulic rams move the platform to replicate the movement and vibration you'd feel when driving a car in the real world.
The serious side of Toyota's driving simulator is it can study drivers' behaviour in a safe, controlled environment. This allows the engineers to look at potentially dangerous situations, such as when the driver falls asleep or fails to spot hazards, without putting lives at risk. Toyota says rumours that its engineers have plugged in the latest version of Gran Turismo into the simulator are unconfirmed...
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