Meeting of the minds 2014 Detroit, MI

Toyota presents Meeting of the Minds 2014 Summit in Detroit

From September 30^th to October 2^nd, Toyota leaders have joined 350 of the world's greatest thinkers at the Meeting of the Minds 2014 summit to explore this urban transformation and ways of harnessing the power of technology. The summit took place in Detroit, Michigan, a city that Toyota describes as redefining itself for the future.

Toyota is the co-founder of the event and has been the presenting sponsor since its inception in 2007.
 

Just in the last 20 years, American cities have drastically changed to try and keep up with the ever evolving technical world that surrounds us. Detroit just happens to be a perfect backdrop for the Meeting of the Minds Summit because it has been redefining itself for the future. One example of this are the new streets that they are planning to put in place that would connect the v2v technology better. This year’s Meeting of the Minds Summit will feature Toyota as the leading role in helping advance technology by improving safety and sustainability in urban environments, like Detroit, highlights of which will be presented during the summit.

“Like many cities which saw their own stars shine with the rise of the Industrial Age, Detroit is now at a tipping point and it offers the perfect platform for the discussion of alternative urban futures,” said Jessie Feller, executive director of the non-profit Meeting of the Minds. “Toyota has been our partner for this annual event, and their thought leadership will contribute greatly to the robust discussions planned over the three days.”

Chuck Gulash, director of Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., will present during “The Complete Street of 2030” workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 1^st. Toyota believes that rapidly emerging technologies will have a profound effect on automotive safety over the next five to ten years. It is investing advanced connected and automated vehicle technologies that hold the potential to revolutionize automotive safety with the philosophy of always keeping the driver engaged.  

At the summit, Toyota displayed the newest generation of Driver Awareness Research Vehicle – DARV 1.5 which is a part of company's continuous research into the dynamics of driver distraction at the CSRC. The Toyota DARV 1.5 uses advanced technology, including Microsoft's Surface and Kinect and custom biometric software and algorithms by Infosys, to the help driver, passengers and the vehicle itself work together as a team to achieve safer driving.