— VOA Learning English — Science & Technology Source: Voice of America Learning English (https://learningenglish.voanews.com/) Licence: Public domain (work of the U.S. federal government, 17 U.S.C. §105) Audio is served by the publisher; Budi does not host or modify it.
0:00Japanese automaker Toyota says it is building a research center in a city-like setting to test robotics, artificial intelligence, AI and autonomous vehicle technologies. Toyota recently announced it had completed the first part or phase of the center called Woven City. It sits near the southern Japanese city of Susono. Company officials recently showed off the latest progress to reporters from the Associated Press. Daisuke Toyoda is an executive for Toyota who is helping lead the project. He told the AP that the center The company said Woven City would serve as a living laboratory. and aims to test technology systems to support future changes in the movement of people, goods, information, and energy.
1:37Toyota said the center is meant to be a place where researchers and technology company officials can come together and share ideas. It will also seek to establish a community with a shared desire to co-create, develop and refine new technology products and services. Woven City was built on the grounds of a closed Toyota automobile factory. The automaker said the project's first phase covers about 47,000 square meters. When completed it will spread out over 294,000 m2. Building operations on Woven City began in 2021. All the buildings are connected by underground passageways. Among planned testing activities will include self-driving vehicles making waste pickups and completing deliveries around the area.
3:00Testing operations will center on how people living in cities can best interact with changing technologies. Currently, no one lives in Woven City. When it opens, officials plan on having about 100 people living there. They will be called weavers. These are workers employed by Toyota and its partner companies making other products. When AP reporters visited the area, Japanese coffee maker UCC was serving hot drinks from a self-driving bus. The bus was parked in an area surrounded by still empty housing. Toyota has supported electric vehicle technology in the past, however, the company He is currently involved in a push for hydrogen, the energy choice in Woven City. Keisuke Konishi is an automobile expert at Japan's Quick Corporate Valuation Research
4:20Center. He told the AP Toyota has plans to expand into self-driving vehicle services to compete with Google's Waymo and other large companies. Konishi noted the company has the money for such development, even if it means building up a completely new business. Toyota has the MONEY to do all that," he said. Toyota officials have said they do not expect Woven City to make money at least not for the first few years. Several other futuristic developments have been planned in other areas of the world over the years. They have included efforts in Toronto, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and San Francisco, California. But those projects are either still being developed or have been cancelled. I'm Brian Lynn.
This transcript was generated automatically from the recording, so it will contain mistakes — especially around names and places.