Japanese mobile internet company DeNA and Tokyo-based autonomous vehicle technology development firm ZMP Inc. have teamed up to form Robot Taxi, a joint venture company charged with laying the groundwork for driverless urban transportation.
While actual robotic, self-driving taxis won’t be cruising the streets of Tokyo (or anywhere else for that matter) anytime soon, the concept itself is an attractive one – much more so than the thought of driverless semi-trailer trucks barreling down the interstate.
Robot Taxi’s founding partners seem well-placed to jump-start the driverless urban transportation revolution. DeNA is a well-known operator of mobile-phone gaming platforms and ZMP’s motto is “Robot of Everything”.
DeNA is providing two-thirds of the new company’s working capital with ZMP contributing the balance. In a recently released statement, the founding companies explained Robot Taxi intends to meld DeNA’s “Internet services know-how with ZMP’s automated driving technology” in the pursuit of true robotic taxis and buses. We can only hope the end result doesn’t resemble Total Recall’s annoying Johnny Cab in any way, shape or form. (via WSJ)
