“Nissan LEAF” special version visualizes EV driving excitement

  Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the 100% electric vehicle (EV) “Nissan LEAF,” has produced a movie featuring a special EV version that projects the driver’s experience and thoughts behind the wheel. The film, entitled “THE ELECTRIC CARtoon! IN A DRIVING SCHOOL AT NIGHT”, （https://youtu.be/ddWx_cI84UM） features young drivers experiencing EVs for the first time. Their reactions, thoughts and feelings are reflected in real-time word animations projected around the on-road Nissan LEAF.

Project background

This project offers a visualization of drivers’ experiences when handling the EV at night on a school course. The fun experienced by the driver is conveyed in eye-catching visuals, so that even those outside the car can share the excitement. 

LEAF visualizes the EV driving experience

The car used in the “THE ELECTRIC CARtoon!” project features a driver’s headset that reads and analyzes brainwaves produced while driving. There are 33 visual patterns used to express the drivers’ various states of mind. Driver brainwaves and projected animations are automatically matched, and visualizations are in a cartoon-style with speech and thought bubbles. The car exterior also has a unique design, taking inspiration from Japanese animation, which is now popular across the world. 

Read the brainwaves of 30 men and women driving the “Nissan LEAF”

In this project, the brainwaves of 30 men and women were measured while driving the Nissan LEAF in various situations. In brain science, alpha waves are emitted when the brain relaxes and concentrates, while beta waves are produced when the brain feels tension or is excited.

In this project, alpha waves were defined as brainwaves emitted when the brain is in a conformable state, and beta waves as those when the brain is in an excited state. As a result, about half of those taking part emitted beta waves when starting the EVs and more than 90 percent emitted a significant quantity of alpha waves when turning road corners. In this experiment, we confirmed that those taking part were in “a comfortable state” or “an excited state” while they were driving EVs.