Watch: Forget self-driving cars, these slippers at a Japanese hotel drive themselves to your feet
And they even park themselves when you’re done using them.
The ProPILOT Park Ryokan might look like your average Japanese hotel, but don’t let the straight line of ordinary-looking slippers at the entrance fool you, because they are anything but ordinary.
The slippers at the hotel, located outside of Tokyo, are powered with Nissan’s autonomous self-driving technology that allows them to drive up to you at a push of a button. Equipped with two small wheels, sensors and a motor, not only can they drive themselves, but they can also park themselves neatly back in their designated spots after being used. If the slippers weren’t enough, the inn even has cushions, furniture and television remotes scuttling around the place, all geared with the same technology.
This video (above) shows how this technology works in cars and has been modified for all sorts of objects in the hotel. A Nissan spokesperson told Reuters, “The self-parking slippers are meant to raise awareness of automated driving technologies, and their potential, non-driving applications”.