Nissan ProPILOT Park Ryokan – Slippers, Tables and Cushions Park Themselves

By Steve & Tamami Laser

Our home has a row of slippers lined up neatly at the front door. It’s a Japanese custom to remove shoes before entering the living space.

Guests at traditional Japanese inns, known as ryokan, are also invited to wear slippers. What if everyday items like slippers, tables and cushions could park themselves after use? Nissan “Tech for Life” to the rescue.

To assist innkeepers and customers alike, Nissan is demonstrating its self-parking technology inside the unique ProPILOT Park Ryokan in Hakone, Japan.

Nissan developed a customized version of its self-parking technology that automatically returns items inside the ryokan to designated spots at the touch of a button.

In addition to entertaining guests, ProPILOT technology also helps to reduce the workload of ryokan staff so they can better attend to the needs of their customers.

“ProPILOT Park” was introduced on the new Nissan Leaf in Japan last year. It detects objects surrounding the vehicle and allows drivers to park automatically in a selected space by simply touching a button.

In addition to the ryokan in Hakone, the automaker plans to offer a demonstration of the self-parking slippers at Nissan Global Headquarters Gallery in Yokohama.

Perhaps one day in the future we’ll be able to organize and clean up our home by simply pressing a button. We’re wondering if self-parking items in the kitchen could be next?

News source and photos courtesy of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Story (commentary) © 2018 CarNichiWa.com