Nissan's autonomous driving car prototype hits the road

Nissan's EV Leaf-Based autonomous driverless car is now being tested Japanese public roads and highways. It features various modes of driving and Nissan seems to be focusing on testing the Intelligent Driving System features pertinent to dricing autonomously in heavy traffic situations on highways. This stop-go rate of driving for long periods of time is the most stressful one for drivers and having the car take over is a good place to start, specially since it can safely correct itself in various situations.

Nissan seems to be on the ball with their rollout plans, autonomous driving in traffic by 2016, the ability to change lanes by 2018 and the smarts to navigate city roads and intersection without human input by 2020.

Source: CTV News

Nissan Nismo smart watch concept creates driver-car connection

Making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Nissan Nismo smart watch concept is meant to connect the drivers of Nissan’s Nismo cars with the vehicles by making use of real-time biometric data. The Nismo, like the other smart watches that have recently made their debut, connects to the car via Bluetooth and then connects to a smartphone app, which then creates data for the user to receive and at the same time gathering information about them. 

The simple-looking bangle concept watch is going to provide data to help monitor the car’s efficiency, including its average speed, fuel consumption readings, other vehicle telematics, as well as performance data. It can also monitor your biometric data with a built-in heart rate monitor and show you latest updates from your social media accounts from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Nissan also hopes to add an ECG and EEG monitor to help identify any signs of fatigue, changes in concentration levels, and even skin temperature. Battery life is supposed to last for a week under normal usage but Nissan hasn’t quantified what “normal usage” entails.

Source: Wired UK

Review: 2013 Inifiniti FX37 Crossover

Text and photos by Corey Herscu

Lately, in terms of car reviews, it seems like when you drive one car (brand irrelevant), you've driven them all. Don't scoff, friends; unless we're talking engine performance, there isn't a lot a car company can do to really to innovate the in-car experience without forcing the consumer into spending top dollar. Of course, there are the anomalies to this rule (see the inside of the Tesla Model S), but that's a whole other conversation entirely.

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