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Waiting in line just got better with self-driving chairs

Sept. 29, 2016

What if you could make the waiting experience more interesting?

Waiting in line is one of the most tedious parts of life. You shuffle along, repeatedly checking your email or texting friends who are doing something more exciting, all the while a noisy clock ticks away your wasted time. But what if you could make the waiting experience more interesting? Nissan is using its ProPILOT technology to create self-driving chairs. That's right. I said self-driving CHAIRS.

According to Xavier Harding for Popular Science: "There's no shortage of car companies working on autonomous automobiles. Lyft is planning a subscription service, Tesla has shipped their vehicles with the feature, and Uber currently offers self-driving cabs for folks living in Pittsburgh. You can also count Nissan among these--the company's ProPILOT tech has appeared in its Serena minivan in Japan since August. But it isn't just limited to cars. Nissan has brought their ProPILOT tech to an unlikely receiver: chairs.

The ProPILOT chair is Nissan's gift to line-sitters residing in Japan. Between the dates of September 27 and December 27, you'll be able to tweet out the hashtag #NissanProPilotChair to try one out."

Looking for an alternative to the Nissan ProPILOT? Check out the Honda's stool-like UNI-CUB, as seen in this OK Go video.

About the Author

Alexis Gajewski | Senior Content Strategist

Alexis Gajewski has over 15 years of experience in the maintenance, reliability, operations, and manufacturing space. She joined Plant Services in 2008 and works to bring readers the news, insight, and information they need to make the right decisions for their plants. Alexis also authors “The Lighter Side of Manufacturing,” a blog that highlights the fun and innovative advances in the industrial sector. 

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