Photo: Toyota Times
While most carmakers are doing research to discover alternative fuel technologies, how to build safer cars, or how to design more attractive ones, it’s not uncommon for them to get involved in research and development in fields beyond the automotive industry.
This is what Totoya is doing these days with its research into how to boost performance with short nap sessions. The Japanese car manufacturer has developed a nap seat prototype called TOTONE that could allow individuals to enhance their productivity with short rests of just 15 to 30 minutes.
The nap seat prototype shows Toyota’s spirit of innovation and is now being tested in the Recharge Room of Woven Planet’s Nihonbashi offices and nine other companies.
It is designed to address a challenge the Japanese society seems to be facing, that of mental fatigue and tired employees after long work hours. Toyota says its nap seat will improve the quality of those short naps by considering a wide array of factors, like posture, temperature, noise, lighting, and more.
The seat features an ergonomic design with a tunnel-like enclosure situated 30-35 cm (11.8 - 13.8 inches) from the eyes. A screen attached to the nap seat will allow you to select the duration of the nap and adjust other parameters to your preferences. When you’re all set, TOTONE will help you fall asleep by gently rocking you.
“I think the challenge for Japanese society is not just reforming the way we work, but also improving how we rest our brains. We want to boost the well-being of workers by making their days both physically and mentally fulfilling,” Mikio Inoue, ADPT AD-1 Project Leader, is cited as saying by Toyota Times.
Some may argue that a sleeping chair has nothing to do with the automotive industry, but seeing how self-driving vehicles could take over the roads in the future, TOTONE might as well indicate what technologies will be employed in cars and how vehicles could affect our daily lives in the coming years.
More than that, TOTONE incorporates technologies that were perfected through car-making. For instance, the nap chair is controlled by technology used in car seats with massage features. The team behind the concept also borrowed technologies that enhance sitting comfort and seat temperature from the automotive industry.
“When autonomous driving becomes part of society in the future, people may as well have a short sleep while driving in certain vehicles. Inspired by that imagination, we set ourselves a goal of building the ultimate sleeper car and, working backward from there, began by developing a non-mobility product, the TOTONE,” Inoue explained.
Developed as part of Toyota’s internal competition called the No. 1 Aho (fool) Contest, or A-1, this nap seat prototype is the result of a joint effort between Toyota’s Advanced Design Development team and Toyota Boshoku, a Toyota Group seat manufacturer. Considering the positive feedback they received from the companies testing TOTONE, Toyota says we could expect a public release as early as next year.
The nap seat prototype shows Toyota’s spirit of innovation and is now being tested in the Recharge Room of Woven Planet’s Nihonbashi offices and nine other companies.
It is designed to address a challenge the Japanese society seems to be facing, that of mental fatigue and tired employees after long work hours. Toyota says its nap seat will improve the quality of those short naps by considering a wide array of factors, like posture, temperature, noise, lighting, and more.
The seat features an ergonomic design with a tunnel-like enclosure situated 30-35 cm (11.8 - 13.8 inches) from the eyes. A screen attached to the nap seat will allow you to select the duration of the nap and adjust other parameters to your preferences. When you’re all set, TOTONE will help you fall asleep by gently rocking you.
“I think the challenge for Japanese society is not just reforming the way we work, but also improving how we rest our brains. We want to boost the well-being of workers by making their days both physically and mentally fulfilling,” Mikio Inoue, ADPT AD-1 Project Leader, is cited as saying by Toyota Times.
Some may argue that a sleeping chair has nothing to do with the automotive industry, but seeing how self-driving vehicles could take over the roads in the future, TOTONE might as well indicate what technologies will be employed in cars and how vehicles could affect our daily lives in the coming years.
More than that, TOTONE incorporates technologies that were perfected through car-making. For instance, the nap chair is controlled by technology used in car seats with massage features. The team behind the concept also borrowed technologies that enhance sitting comfort and seat temperature from the automotive industry.
“When autonomous driving becomes part of society in the future, people may as well have a short sleep while driving in certain vehicles. Inspired by that imagination, we set ourselves a goal of building the ultimate sleeper car and, working backward from there, began by developing a non-mobility product, the TOTONE,” Inoue explained.
Developed as part of Toyota’s internal competition called the No. 1 Aho (fool) Contest, or A-1, this nap seat prototype is the result of a joint effort between Toyota’s Advanced Design Development team and Toyota Boshoku, a Toyota Group seat manufacturer. Considering the positive feedback they received from the companies testing TOTONE, Toyota says we could expect a public release as early as next year.
Part of a series featuring Toyota's research in non-automotive fields, this article is all about getting a good sleep, featuring the automaker's newly developed TOTONE nap seat.#ToyotaTimes #MobilityCompanyhttps://t.co/JWtl0jLdbU pic.twitter.com/wRSaee4SBG
— Toyota Motor Corp. (@ToyotaMotorCorp) November 2, 2022
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