New Toyota Prius Option - Self-Parking

[hatrack]

TOKYO - Your hands don't even need to be touching the steering wheel for it to start spinning back and forth aggressively, all by itself - slowly guiding the car into the parking spot. Parallel parking is designed to be a breeze with the Intelligent Parking Assist system, part of a new $2,200 option package for Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius gas-electric hybrid in Japan.

This is a bold and somewhat unnerving concept, a car that parks itself. As a driver, you've got to wonder as the Prius eases back toward the curb: What is this machine thinking? It's also difficult not to be gripped by a "Look Ma, no hands" thrill - even if the system only partially fulfills its promise. But we'll get to the drawbacks later.

EDIT

A dashboard display shows the image taken by the camera. When you near a parking space and shift into reverse, computerized lines pop up on the display, along with arrows pointing up, down, left and right. Using the arrows, you move the lines around until they define exactly where you want the car to be parked. Then you push the "set" button on the display. Keep your foot lightly on the brake pedal, and the car will start backing up, the steering wheel responding to an invisible hand. Voila, the car will park itself in the spot you've chosen with the arrows.

Have no illusions, however. Hands-free driving doesn't mean you can read a book or doze off. The system has no artificial intelligence that actually recognizes objects - so it won't stop for a person or a cat or anything else you shouldn't be running over."

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http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=4847