Discover Toyota Walk Me, an autonomous legged chair unveiled at Japan Mobility Show 2025. It climbs stairs, tackles rough terrain, uses LiDAR and voice control.
© ITHome
At the JapanMobilityShow 2025, Toyota unveiled a breakthrough in personal mobility: the Walk Me concept, an autonomous chair that moves on four mechanical legs where conventional wheeled devices come up short.
The newcomer is designed specifically for people with limited mobility and steps in when you need to climb stairs, tackle uneven ground, or get into a car. Unlike traditional wheelchairs, Walk Me has no wheels at all. Instead, it relies on four robotic legs, each able to bend, lift, and change angle independently. A soft outer shell hides the complex mechanisms and sensors, giving the device a friendly, safe presence rather than a clinical one.
Toyota’s engineers took cues from animals—goats and crabs that handle rough terrain with ease. Thanks to that approach, the chair not only moves smoothly on flat surfaces, but also adapts confidently to slopes, staircases, and rocky paths. When climbing, the front legs determine step height and pull the structure upward, while the rear legs keep balance and push the body along. LiDAR sensors and cameras continuously scan the surroundings, helping avoid collisions and automatically stopping the device when an obstacle is detected. The choreography suggests a careful bias toward stability over spectacle, which feels right for this category.
Walk Me features an ergonomic seat that automatically adjusts to the user. Control is available via small levers on the armrests or by voice—it's enough to say you want to head to the kitchen or pick up speed. A built-in display shows battery level and distance traveled. One charge lasts for a full day, and recharging is done from a standard wall outlet. When needed, the chair folds in 30 seconds to the size of a small suitcase, making it easier to carry in a car or store at home.
Though Walk Me is still a prototype, its debut at the show marks a meaningful step for smart robotic mobility. Toyota aims to make movement accessible to everyone—regardless of landscape, architecture, or physical constraints. The device hints at a future where wheels sometimes yield to intelligent mechanisms that can walk almost like a living creature, opening a new chapter for personal transport.