In the shadow of Mount Fuji , a new city is being build by Nipponese railway car Jehovah Toyota called “ Woven City . ” It ’s been described as a “ living laboratory ” design to investigate how urban inhabitants can live in tandem bicycle with autonomous vehicles , robots , clean energy , and artificial intelligence activity ( AI ) .
So - called smart urban center , often palisade by starry - eyed plug and savvy PR , have a fairly bad track criminal record ofever getting off the ground . However , it appears thatWoven Cityis actually start somewhere ( well , that ’s allot to their savvy PR ) .
Construction started in early 2021 and is set to finish up in summer 2024 . By 2025 , the city hopes to soft launch and begin its " demonstration trials " . These demos will let in experimentation take next - genesis remote communicating technologies and “ smart logistics ” involve smartphone apps link to deliveryrobots .
Another concept design showing a street of Woven City.Image credit: Toyota Woven City
Inside the metropolis ’s domicile , robotics and sensor - basedAIplan to be used for unremarkable tasks like mechanically restocking the electric refrigerator and take out the scrap .
Toyotaexplains that the metropolis will initially be home to around 360 hoi polloi , mainly older citizens and mob , but plans to gradually expound its population to around 2,000 . The residents will let in employees of the company such as technician and investigator , who will observe the liquidation and develop engineering such as AI in a real - populace environment .
All of this will occur against the background of an urban environment work up by robot , prompt by the natural human race and traditional Japanese woodwork . To help the city ’s design , the company has also employed the help of famous Norse architectBjarke Ingels .
This is how Toyota hope Woven City will look when it’s completed, apparently in 2025.Image credit: Toyota Woven City
" Building a complete city from the land up , even on a little scale like this , is a unequalled opportunity to train future technologies , including a digital operating system of rules for the metropolis ’s infrastructure , ” Akio Toyoda , chairman of the Toyota Motor Corporation and the company ’s former chairwoman and CEO , said in astatementin 2020 .
“ With people , buildings and vehicles all connected and communicating with each other through data point and sensors , we will be able to test connected AI technology … in both the virtual and the strong-arm realms … maximizing its potential , " he added .
Akio Toyoda is a neat - grandson of Sakichi Toyoda , the so - phone " King of Japanese Inventors " who founded Toyota Industries in 1926 as a manufacturer of automatic loom . Although the troupe has since inflate beyond loom - fashioning , the name “ Woven City ” come along to be a reference point to this legacy .
“ If you did n’t know , Toyota actually began as a loom manufacturer . We did n’t start up by building cable car . We begin by weaving fabric . Now , we go for to use our technology to waver together a new variety of metropolis and a new way of enjoying aliveness , ” Akio Toyoda said ata press conference .
