collision detection: Wag the dog

November 25, 2004

Wag the dog

A few months ago, I blogged about how to make cars more expressive -- by making brake-lights communicate more information, or by allowing the car to make facial expressions.

Now the Japanese artist Hachiya Kazuhiko has produced an even stranger idea: Giving a car a tail. Inspired by the expressiveness of dog's tails, he installed a robotic proboscus on the back of that minivan you see above. It actually seems like a kind of a neat idea, because a tail is a nice bit of ambient information: Unlike a sign, you don't have to stare at it directly to get data from it, so it's less likely to distract other drivers than a pixelboard sign on the back of your car. All in all, it seems like a witty bit of design -- safer, more organic, and simpler.

Until you watch the video of the thing in action and realize: Holy moses that thing looks creepy. It's like some sort of ghastly alien finger grafted onto the back of a car. I almost shrieked when I first saw it move. Yiiiii. Yeah, I can just imagine the conversations in the car-sales-lots of the future. "Great, so, would you like your Ford Taurus to have a killer mutant appendage, or just stock equipment?"

(Thanks to Near Near Future for this one!)

Posted by Clive Thompson at November 25, 2004 03:12 AM

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Comments

Wrong....just wrong in so many ways

Posted by: Uncle Rob at November 25, 2004 7:31 PM

That's not as minivan, it's a smartcar. They're two seater cars designed for city use. See smart.com for more details. And buy me the roadster if you get rich.

Posted by: Jen at November 26, 2004 11:50 AM

I haven't seen anything so phallic since I quit smoking cigars. And when the tail stands straight up... well I might just start smoking again!

Posted by: Dr. Freud at November 26, 2004 3:51 PM

I like it. Its an easy way to say thank you to people who let you in in traffic, and a little more entertaining than the rare wave or flash of the 4-ways.

Posted by: cottageboy at November 26, 2004 5:24 PM

I agree with the good doctor --- that thing is obscene.

Posted by: Jonathan Korman at November 26, 2004 9:36 PM

Yeah, not an alien finger. A prehensile metal alien DINGUS.

Posted by: El Rey at November 27, 2004 4:10 AM

I think that driving safety doesen't discend from the amount of information, but from the attention we pay to the few essential information.

Giving more information can be equal to just giving distraction.

Posted by: Mario at November 29, 2004 3:35 AM

I think that driving safety doesen't discend from the amount of information, but from the attention we pay to the few essential information.

Giving more information can be equal to just giving distraction.

Posted by: Mario at November 29, 2004 3:37 AM

Man, the more I look at that video, the more creeped out I am.

Posted by: Clive at November 29, 2004 6:29 AM

Hahaha! ElRay, when I looked at it, the first thing I thought was "My God! That car has a DINGUS!!!"

Nothing I've ever seen before has so clearly expressed the-quality-of-being-a-dingus.

Posted by: Jonathan Hayes at November 29, 2004 1:55 PM

Um. Is it supposed to look like a penis?

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