Subaru Simulator
Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) is a giant company that is most famous in Canada for building Subaru cars, but the Japanese firm also builds airplanes and the stuff that go with them.
So the aerospace arm and the car arm of FHI got together and built ''Gran Turismo -- The Real Driving Simulator,'' which will be appearing at the Subaru display Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto as a fund-raising device.
The auto show runs from February 12 to 22 at the Skydome and the convention centre in downtown Toronto. More details on the show are available at www.autoshow.ca.
The idea is to raise money for Toronto's Ronald McDonald House, which provides affordable accommodation and a supportive environment to the families of sick children in Toronto to seek medical help.
When the same simulator played the recent Montreal auto show, $4,000 was raised for a local charity in Quebec.
Though it works very well at an auto show, the simulator had a more practical application when it was created by the two divisions of FHI. It was meant to demonstrate such technologies as Active Driving Assist, says Norio Osakabe, chairman, president and CEO of Subaru Canada.
''In true Subaru fashion,'' says Osakabe, ''we've taken a piece of technology that had a very practical purpose and used it to create something that's pure fun.''
As a result, Osakabe says, ''Now everyone can test drive the new 2005 Legacy right at the show -- or experience the thrill of challenging the twists and turns of the World Rally Championship circuit behind the wheel of a high-performance Subaru Impreza WRX STi.''
Operated by three Sony PlayStation 2 processors, the compact electric six-axle simulator can represent complex changes in posture, Osakabe says, while an updated cockpit-styled controller and quick steering (2.5 turns from lock to lock) provide a realistic ''driving'' experience.
In addition to the sense of speed, drivers actually feel the changes caused by climbing a hill, get the ''roller coaster'' effect of bumps and dips, and, through the seat and steering wheel, experience the feedback caused by a change in road surface or when the car goes off the road.