Volkswagen Builds Star Trek Captain's Chair That Goes 12 MPH (theverge.com) 60
According to The Verge, Volkswagen Norway as part of a marketing exercise "claims to have built an office chair that not only looks worthy of a Star Trek captain but also can drive around the office on its own five wheels -- at speeds of up to 20 kilometers per hour (roughly 12mph)." From the report: The company says it can travel a distance of 12 kilometers (roughly 7.5 miles) on its swappable battery. That's not all: it's got more amenities than my last car, with 360-degree collision avoidance sensors, a backup camera with full guidance, a heated embroidered seat, party lights, a touchscreen display, a USB charger, and a tow hitch. LED headlights, a seatbelt, and a horn come standard. There's even a "trunk" (a pocket, anyhow) with 0.17 cubic feet of space for documents and / or a laptop. The company has uploaded a behind-the-scenes video on YouTube on how it was created, including some footage of the final product that "will be available for test drives at various locations."
But does it include (Score:2)
... Their logo?
https://commons.m.wikimedia.or... [wikimedia.org]
Re: But does it include (Score:3)
No those are stylized Fs. It stands for "Folks Wagon" or "people's car". They made it just for their fuhrer's people.
Re: But does it include (Score:2)
Actually if you look closely it's a stylized S weaved into the topmost F. It stands for sieg, which in English means victory, basically to hail their fuhrer's sieg against competing car companies.
Re: But does it include (Score:2)
Well you know how these Germans are...
Re: But does it include (Score:2)
On and while that one is fake, this one isn't:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Oe... [youtube.com]
But you know how these Germans are...
Bro no. (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Don't worry. If this chair can't go forward, it can reverse.
Re: (Score:1)
Fun project, clickbait Verge title (Score:5, Informative)
If you watch the actual YouTube link from Volkswagon Norway, it doesn't mention Star Trek at all. That video talks about how they wanted to make an office chair with the amenities of a Volkswagen car - headlights, trailer hitch, stereo system, etc. It looks like it was a fun project.
Any "Star Trek" references come only from the Verge blogger's mind. Watch the first five seconds of the video - the chair is just an office chair, it doesn't remotely look like anything from Star Trek... unless there was a Star Trek episode which included a standard 21st century office chair.
next gen EVs ? (Score:1)
If they stopped wasting ressources on marketing, and started to engineer the next gen EVs instead ?
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, it's just a motorized office chair.
No mention of "Star Trek" or anything remotely related. Only the idiot blogger added that.
(presumably as click-bait, and it worked..)
Re: (Score:2)
Well, IIRC "captain's chair" is standard nomenclature for a kind of office chair with attached arms. They used to be rare enough that the name was more common, but these days most office-style chairs have arms, so it's fallen out of use. (Or perhaps it had a more specialized meaning that I just never grokked.)
Re: (Score:3)
And the only Star Trek captain with a motorized chair was Pike, but it'd need "yes" and "no" lights on it.
Re: (Score:2)
Regardless, this is the only way you are getting me back in the office.
Re: (Score:2)
Regardless, this is the only way you are getting me back in the office.
... at 12 miles per hour!
Quote from the article (Score:2)
The article ends with this gem:
"Assuming all of this is real, of course. Volkswagen has a recent history of lying to people."
So, looks cool, but it's not going into production.
Re:Quote from the article (Score:4, Insightful)
It's the new Slashdot meta. Complain about every product as a "slashvertisement" while also complaining about anything you can't buy and isn't in production.
Re: (Score:1)
The article ends with this gem:
Bit of a low bar for a high point.
"Assuming all of this is real, of course. Volkswagen has a recent history of lying to people."
You (well, that idiot blogger) mean "dieselgate"? That was them and everybody else in the industry. Meaning that the bureaucrats making the regulations had pushed beyond the realistic.
This doesn't mean I approve of the lying. The fact "everybody was doing the exact same thing" means it makes no sense to keep on harping on that one party's doing that. The cause lies elsewhere, so just going "don't lie, eh!?!" isn't going to make things better. Pointing at just VW isn't even
Re: (Score:2)
You (well, that idiot blogger) mean "dieselgate"?
No, the article is right there, you should have clicked on it.
[Dieselgate] was them and everybody else in the industry.
It really wasn't.
Re: Quote from the article (Score:2)
So what other automaker had hundreds of thousands of used cars they had to buy back sitting in a parking lot collecting dust?
Re: (Score:2)
You (well, that idiot blogger) mean "dieselgate"? That was them and everybody else in the industry. Meaning that the bureaucrats making the regulations had pushed beyond the realistic.
Absolute bullshit. Every single automaker was completely capable of meeting the emissions standards. Some of them needed to use more equipment (i.e. DEF) and others only needed to not tune the vehicle to be quite as much fun to drive. Mazda skipped having a diesel at that time specifically because they couldn't figure out how to make it engaging and meet the emissions restrictions, but ze germans decided those restrictions weren't as important as sales.
Re: (Score:2)
"Only" tune it to be unsaleable.
They had gasser models of the same cars for sale too. Also, if none of them had cheated, their diesels would have been competing with other diesels (people who want diesels are usually not cross-shopping with gassers) and they would have been equally salable.
Re: (Score:2)
The article ends with this gem:
"Assuming all of this is real, of course. Volkswagen has a recent history of lying to people."
It's almost as if the idiot blogger couldn't read the bit that says: "Unfortunately, the chair is only available as an exhibition model, because we always put customers who actually need vans in the driver's seat. But it will be available for test drives at various locations. Keep an eye out for where it is in our social media channels."
Apparently you can't either.
Reminds me of... (Score:5, Interesting)
The movie Wall-E's starship inhabitants.
Meh... (Score:4, Funny)
Who wants a chair, when you can drive the world's fastest sofa?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Or a bathtub.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
What about a toilet? :P
Re: (Score:3)
I can't help but wonder how those cars are street legal, since he's driving them on the street and they clearly don't have airbags.
Re: (Score:3)
Maybe they count as a quad bike or something similar?
Re: (Score:2)
According to WP there is no legal requirement for airbags in the UK (though there's no reference listed for the UK, only the EU).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
ok so UK must have flexible auto laws.
Funny until... (Score:2)
you really need one, because you can no longer control your legs.
Is it electric? (Score:2)
Even if it can do all that it will trip our 1,000,000 Amp service line circuit breaker. There is simply no way the wiring can handle it.
It will never be anything more than a fashion accessory to the virtue signallin
Safety (Score:2)
Re:Safety (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, in fact. Unlike the stupid headline, the goal was actually to replicate all the features of a car, not build a movie prop. So naturally, it has a seatbelt.
My paranoid pessimism... (Score:2)
Finally, and afordable VW electric vehical (Score:2)
If it ever came to market, they wouldn't charge more than $30k for a chair.
...pod? (Score:2)
But the most important question...
does it have Eject Pod button?
Emissions control? (Score:2)
Which Captain? (Score:2)
I assume they meant Pike. Does it come with a flashing light and a beeper, once for yes and twice for no?
It’s an ad (Score:2)
..for VW utility vehicles. Seriously, that’s all it is. There is no chair, Star Trek or otherwise.
How fat ... (Score:3)
I can see having some fun with these in the office. Some lazy slob goes cruising down the aisle at 20 kph. I step out of my cubicle at the last instant. Chair anti-collision kicks in and locks up the brakes. Dumping fatso on his face.
WHEN it goes into commercial production... (Score:1)
When it goes into commercial production they should call it, "The Hawking Drive", :)
Why not an entire desk? (Score:2)
a la the Deskmobile from Get Smart's The Nude Bomb.
https://getsmart.fandom.com/wi... [fandom.com]
MEMO: (Score:2)
This is just the latest attempt from management to enforce the outdated "butt-in-seats" methodology of managing workforces.
As soon as they equip the chair with a toilet seat, workers will literally never have to leave their seats.
accidetal SPOILER (Score:2)
Uh oh -- SPOILER / LEAK -- in the upcoming season of Picard, he can drive his chair around!
IRL VR Chair (Score:2)
Where's that video from about 2006 with the office chair IRL making fun of "flying" in Second Life? That was pretty good.
(Do I get points for tying this into The Metaverse?)
Strange New Worlds (Score:2)
In the upcoming season, flash-forwards to Captain Pike being stuck in his life support chair. Except now he can drive it around while beeping "NO".
Paramount executive regarding his mute father: It's sad, Jim, poor devil can't move. Just sits in his chair watching Star Trek Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Picard...just sitting there all day texting "NO". Question is, "No, what?" We can't figure it out.
Star Trek? (Score:2)
More like Wall-E.
Where's my Captain Pike chair? (Score:2)
I was looking forward to having "yes" and "no" conversations with my co-workers. Meetings would be shorter.
Well it's employer branding (Score:2)
They are trying to present themselves as a "cool" employer when in reality this is a rather trivial thing many people have done before. As you can see it's based on one of those "hoverboards". There are alternative firmwares for those that allow you to control them easily. People have been building "driving chairs" out of them for more than a decade now.
Volkswagen obviously has the problem that nobody wants to work for them. After all it's an area of technology that is doomed.
Watch the shows (Score:2)