Toyota has begun moving residents into its $10 billion 'Woven City,' a private experimental metropolis designed to test future mobility technologies.
According to a report from Ars Technica, the first 100 handpicked residents, known as 'Weavers,' moved into the urban development six months ago. The project, built on a disused factory site, serves as a live testing ground for researchers and engineers.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda originally pledged to build the city of the future during the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. The goal is to transition the automaker from a traditional car manufacturer into a fully fledged mobility company.
A vision of zero accidents
The city serves as a laboratory for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. Toyota aims to achieve a 'society with a zero accidents' standard by integrating infrastructure with autonomous systems.
John Absmeier, Woven City’s CTO, told Ars Technica that current autonomous vehicle fleets lack the necessary scale to match Toyota's global presence. He noted that onboard sensors alone are insufficient for total safety.
'The only way to spot a kid darting out from behind a truck,' Absmeier said, 'is with cameras on every street watching for hazards, paired with warning systems for oncoming traffic.'
This strategy relies on ubiquitous sensors and cameras embedded throughout the city's infrastructure. While the technology aims to prevent collisions, the high density of monitoring equipment creates a significant surveillance presence. The report noted seeing multiple cameras at single intersections, highlighting the trade-off between public safety and privacy within the experimental zone.
