Oculus Rift meets the 2014 Toyota Corolla

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If you grew up in the 90's, chances are you have fond memories for a lot of things—Pogs, Ecto Cooler, and Super Soakers, just to name a few. Remember visiting arcades and playing every single racing game there was? Cruisin' USA, Ridge Racer, Sega Rally Championship...the amount of great games (with equally impressive 3D environments, or so we thought at the time) seemed endless.

Those were certainly the days, and Toyota seems to have gotten a kick of that nostalgia recently, too. They tasked Ogeeku, a team of game developers, to re-create those memories using the Oculus Rift tool, a virtual reality headset for gaming. However, unlike most racing games where the goal is to accelerate as fast as possible, they wanted the emphasis to be on what it feels like to actually drive a car. To accomplish that, they modeled everything after the driving experience of the all-new, redesigned 2014 Toyota Corolla. The end result? A retro yet futuristic simulation they're referring to as "CorollaCade"!

The team put everything together in just under a month. Take a look at the video below to see how they did it-

Besides the amazing trip down memory lane, the other great news about CorollaCade being built is that Toyota hopes to make additional machines in the future (likely with more resources and development time) that the public could use to get the experience of a virtual reality test drive.

Think the CorollaCade takes four quarters to play? What Toyota should they feature for their next virtual reality simulation?

Is a hybrid in your future? The father of the Prius thinks so.

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There's been a lot of talk in the past year about the future of automobiles and how we all need to prepare ourselves for the day of the "driver-less" car. Automakers and even tech giants like Google are working on their own versions of cars that pilot themselves, and claim that they could be ready in the next 10 years. Hop in, tell it where you want to go, and watch in amazement as the vehicle drives you to your destination. Sounds like science fiction, right? Would you trust a computer system to make all of your driving decisions?

Toyota's chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, who was one of the pioneers of the original Toyota Prius, has a different opinion– he believes that we should maximize advances in hybrid technology first. Before autonomous cars (or even simply all-electric cars) take over, Uchiyamada says "there are still many more gains we can achieve with hybrids." For example, the current 3rd generation of the Prius has 10% better fuel efficiency than the previous one, at a combined MPG of 50. Mr. Uchiyamada is confident they can improve that number even more when the 4th generation is developed.

His game plan? To sell 5 million hybrid vehicles in the U.S. by the end of 2016 and achieve mileage standards set forth by the Obama administration. “It’s only when we put ourselves under the same kind of intense pressure we faced in developing the Prius that we can achieve great goals. That’s what it takes. I want our industry to achieve this goal," he said.

Toyota's continued work with hybrid technology is actually more in line with what I think is best for all of us, as drivers. Rather than moving on from hybrids and only focusing on self-driving vehicles, they're slowly adding more self-driving features in future vehicles and getting us comfortable with using them. Two examples immediately come to mind: the first is the advanced technology package available on the Prius V, which offers a parking assist option where the driver uses a camera to find a suitable spot for the vehicle. Once located, the vehicle automatically guides itself into a parking spot.
The second is the Yaris Hybrid-R, a concept vehicle capable of 414 horsepower. It utilizes multiple motors, with a gas engine to power the two front wheels, and two electric motors that specifically power the rear wheels, giving the car all-wheel drive traction. While unlikely to ever hit the showroom, elements of its design may make their way into future cars.

In addition to both of these technologies, Toyota is also working on sensors that would allow a vehicle to apply brakes and control the steering wheel on its own. According to Mr. Uchiyamada, they want to eliminate driving fatalities on the highway, but believes that drivers need to be in control of their vehicle for the foreseeable future.

Do you agree that we're not yet ready for a world where cars drive themselves?

Toyota wants to make night-time driving a lot safer

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Do you often times find yourself driving at night, only to come across a vehicle headed in your direction with their high beams on? As they approach from the distance, you can't help but to try and shield yourself from the intense blast of their brights, assaulting your eyes and making you recall that famous Manfred Mann song, "Blinded by the light." Several excruciating seconds pass until at long last, the driver is no longer in your field of vision. Sound like a scenario you've been in before? Toyota wants to fix that, by introducing a new adaptive driving beam technology that could automatically control how the brights in vehicles shine.

How does it work? Overseas, Toyota has already produced 16,000 vehicles that come equipped with a special camera built into the headlights. When the vehicle detects another car on the road, it dims the high beams ever so slightly, to reduce the portion of light that would normally shine in the other driver's face. This allows drivers to keep their high beams on, which allows more illumination (and better visibility) of the road, increasing safety. It's important to note that unlike other high-beam features car makers have introduced in the past, this one doesn't just turn the beams off and on....it allows the driver to keep their high beams on the entire time!

Here's where things gets strange, though. In 1999, a U.S. law was passed that forbid the use of camera/headlight technology in America. According to the law, headlight beams must either run in high or low mode, with no settings in-between. Toyota has recently been petitioning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to get this reversed, as they say that it could be a useful tool in helping to reduce the number of annual fatalities caused by dark driving situations.

Vehicles such as the Toyota Sienna and Toyota Camry already have similar safety features (available on certain models), that utilize cameras to improve your field of vision, such as the blind spot monitor/rear cross traffic alert. It works by displaying an icon in your side-view mirror when another vehicle is approaching. Should the NHTSA ruling get reversed, it wouldn't be difficult for Toyota to start including the high beam feature in these (and other) vehicles, in addition to the safety features they're already available with. Do you think cars would benefit from being equipped with additional cameras and computers that assist our driving experience? Would having your high beams on more often help you to drive better at night?