Nissan unveiled an interesting if not ugly concept car on Monday. It’s called the “Teatro for Dayz” (I’m not pulling your leg here) and it contains many features that the next generation of ‘digital natives’ might demand, including many touchscreens with smart phone connectivity, a camera, and lots of other icons of the modern era. So if you feel you don’t have enough screen time on a regular basis, this may be the car for you.
The idea behind the car is supposed to give owners and passengers an easier way to share their experiences. It is meant to appeal to so-called “share natives” who “want a car to be a versatile tool for creativity like a smart phone.”
“What share natives want from cars is not the joy of driving or their own private space, but a better way to connect with friends and share experiences,” Hidemi Sasaki, Nissan’s product planning general manager, says in the press release. But share what exactly?
Well, when the car is not in “drive mode,” it’s a simple white car with a sparse interior that consists of a steering wheel, a brake pedal and an accelerator. So basically if you’re not driving, it’s simply an unusable car-like object.
But once the car is put into drive mode? All hell breaks loose. The displays all fire into action, featuring driver adjustable gauges and car navigation information. The rest of the car’s interior lights up too. The displays can be adjusted to reflect a specific season or “simply the vibe of the day.” An on-board camera allows passengers to take photos inside the car. Worryingly, selfies can also apparently be taken for maximum distraction.
The car’s name, “Teatro” (Italian for “theatre”) reflects how the car can be the centre of whatever experience it is being used for, such as a party. The car is purposely small (a so-called “minicar”) to resemble the compact smart phones that “share natives” carry around. The press release doesn’t get into any important details about the motor, how far the car can go on a single charge, or how long it would take to charge – so I seriously doubt it will ever see the light of day. But it is an interesting concept, if not one that would be incredibly distracting if it didn’t contain any self-driving tech.
Do you think Nissan are heading in the wrong direction here?