Topic: SOLVED - oko011 : Sumitomo Electric traffic attraction at 1970 Osaka World Expo

[oko94]

What is this, where and when ? For 1 point.

[oko94]

Let's play !

[oko94]

Too obscure for the Experts obviously.

[Wendax]

From the USA?

[oko94]

Not from the USA

[Arunas]

Marden?

[pguillem]

Arola ?

[oko94]

Neither Marden nor Arola.

Hint : the answer to the "what is this" question is not a car brand, so you're not looking in the right direction

[Paul Jaray]

I guess they are Japanese.
The cars run on tracks.
Are they testing something, like a kind of assisted drive?
On a 2nd thought it reminds me a sort of a show, were those vehicles have to move in sequence and coordinated...there's no meaning in those tracks and ramps to get in the vehicles a part a sort of coreography...but this won't explain the suit of the drivers or the numbers on the cars....

[oko94]

Japan is correct ! Good guess. What made you think that it was not in Europe ?

Your idea of a kind of a show is very close to the answer. Don't pay attention to the suit of the guy in the car, it's not relevant.

LOCKED for Paul Jaray to find the year, the place and what it is all about

[Paul Jaray]

I guessed Japan for a simple reason: you blurried the driver's face and I was sure it was not because it was a known person but yet it was a revealing detail...'Asian' was the obvious choice and Japan the most probable.
Now, is there a sport involved? Something like the opening show of a big event? Or is the 'event' related to the maker of those vehicles...like a trip in Willy Wonka's Company?

[oko94]

There's no sport involved, but it is indeed part of a very big event. One more guess before I unlock it to everyone.

The actual maker of the cars is unkown to me.

[Paul Jaray]

It can't be olympic games, then.
Next stop would be Osaka's World Fair in 1970.

[Paul Jaray]

Found it.
Presented by Sumitomo Electric Industries.
In 1970 Sumitomo Electric participated in the Japan World Exposition held in Osaka, providing its original traffic attraction in the site of the automobile pavilion. This attraction was an extraordinary exhibition in the time, in which visitors could actually take part and drive colorful mini cars. Drivers enjoyed racing around along lanes built in a grid across the circular field. The mini cars were linked with single-track guardrails. Here, our system worked to stop drivers from entering a lane which another car was coming in and indicate safe directions for drivers to select using a lever.



The rules of the game were simple; during the time limit (about two minutes), the driver reaches the other side territory will get a point. After a short pit stop to recharge, another one point will be given to the player who returns to their home territory. The driver traveling back home three times in a row will be bestowed a prize.
In this attraction, our system worked for:
(1)collision avoidance
(2)time limit control
(3)displacement of time-up cars
With the participation of 250,000 visitors in total, this attraction heralded the beginning of Sumitomo Electric’s traffic system business, widely impressing the public as a system manufacturer.

[oko94]

Now that's impressive ! A well deserved point for you.

I scanned the puzzle's picture from a book about Metabolism I bought on a recent trip to Japan. Metabolism is a Japanese architectural movement that aimed at designing building and whole cities as evolving and interconnected structures, much like the human body. The idea was that these building and cities would be able to adapt themselves to the constantly changing modern way of living and to the growth of population. The use of avant-garde technology was one way to achieve this goal. One of the most famous Metabolist project is the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo.

The 1970 World Fair in Osaka was a large-scale showcase for the Metabolist movement, and these electric cars were included in a larger urban-like display, as the Metabolists thought that every object in a city had to be properly designed and coherent with the whole package, such as urban furniture and equipment, streets, roads and of course cars.

[oko94]

The puzzle's photo in color.