Toyota Woven City, a mobility test course developed by Toyota Motor Corporation and Woven by Toyota, has completed its first year of operation. Located in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, the site serves as a living laboratory for testing innovative mobility solutions. The project brings together around 160 people from approximately 80 households who participate as Weavers, or residents, and work with companies known as Inventors to refine their products through continuous improvement.
The Woven City Integrated ANZEN System is being tested, and under a partnership with Shizuoka Prefecture, the system will be expanded to fit devices to prefecture government vehicles within the 2026 financial year. Additionally, the AI Robot Association has placed household robots in 11 households, which have completed over 1,000 tasks as of September 24. These robots are designed to tidy up and carry items, enhancing daily life for the residents.
UCC Japan, which operates the Ueshima Coffee Lounge in Woven City, has developed a system to graph over 300 behavioral data points from participants. This system will be used to study how different coffees affect concentration, providing valuable insights into the impact of beverages on cognitive function. This data-driven approach enables the refinement of products and services within the Woven City environment.
Woven by Toyota plans to release AI Vision Engine 2.0 by the end of 2026. This updated system will have enhanced capabilities, including describing real-world events in natural language, reasoning why events occurred, and detecting specific behaviors by people and mobility technologies in visual data. The company claims that internal testing has recorded leading scores on over 10 benchmarks, including those measuring reasoning.
Seven new Inventors have joined Woven City, bringing the total to 31. These new participants include Aerial Base, Aillis Inc, JOYCLE Inc, and NationX Inc, which focus on drone logistics, AI-driven medicine, on-site waste conversion, and AI decision-making platforms. Additionally, Chubu Electric Power Miraiz Co Inc, Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd, and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd have also joined the project, expanding the scope of innovations being tested.
Construction of Phase 2 began in September 2026 and is scheduled for completion by the end of November 2028. This phase will cover approximately 52,000 square meters and accommodate around 600 residents. The full Woven City site is planned to house about 2,000 people, with Phase 1 covering around 47,000 square meters for approximately 300 residents.
As of October 1, Woven City has opened visitor reservations to the general public in Japan. A recent resident recruitment drive in Shizuoka Prefecture received over 1,000 applications, with around 25 households expected to move in by March 2027. This growing interest in Woven City highlights its potential as a model for future mobility and community development.
Key points
- Around 30 proof-of-concept trials are currently underway at Woven City.
- Seven new Inventors have joined the project, bringing the total to 31.
- Phase 2 construction is scheduled for completion by the end of November 2028.
