Toyota, NTT boost tie-up to eliminate traffic accidents through AI

MANILA: Toyota has strengthened its collaboration with the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) to build a society with “zero traffic accidents” through the power of a mobility artificial intelligence (AI) platform. 

Specifically, the two companies will accomplish the said vision through the use of high-speed, high-quality communications infrastructure paired with powerful AI capable of processing large amounts of data. 

In the future, the said systems will be leveraged by "connected cars", which the two entities have been developing together since 2017. To note, a connected car is a type of vehicle equipped with the capability of sending and receiving information similar to mobile devices. 

According to Toyota, the AI part of the mobility platform will be the tip of the spear in eliminating road accidents and creating the future of cars. 

“We will work together to build an AI and communications infrastructure that will support a mobility society, with an aim to accelerate our efforts to change the future of cars,” Toyota Motor Corporation President Koji Sato said. 

Moreover, NTT added that the system would also become an avenue not just for traffic accident prevention but also for self-driving vehicles. 

“Integrating this kind of AI will allow us to enrich society with various mobility services, including traffic accident prevention, more advanced automated driving, and AI agents attuned to people’s needs,” NTT President Akira Shimada said. 

Toyota, NTT's AI mobility platform: how it works

With regard to how the said system will work, first, AI will continuously learn from advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) that are already found in modern-day car models. 

Next, data gathered from multiple ADAS systems will be leveraged by smart road infrastructure to identify blind spots and areas with poor visibility, predict driver behavior, and optimize traffic flow on expressways - among others.

The aforementioned data will be sent back to connected cars to be utilized either by the driver, on-board ADAS systems, or a self-driving system. 

Per the Nagoya-based car maker, however, there are several challenges to enacting the said approach. For starters, there is a need to create a high-speed communications network and establish data centers. 

Moreover, Toyota added that such a system would require the redesigning of the electronic control systems to allow for over-the-air software updates and interconnectivity with the upcoming AI platform. 

Regardless of the aforementioned challenges, Toyota and NTT are optimistic about the future of the said project. Toyota, for instance, said that the system will see public trials as soon as 2028. The marque even predicted its widespread adoption by 2030. 

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