That the technical revolution has an immense impact on our daily lives is something that everyone probably experiences. We adapt ourselves and sometimes get used very quickly to the conveniences that our times have to offer. Sometimes technology seems to move too fast and we can't always interact with it responsibly. Specifically I have in mind the handling of a smart device when behind the wheel. It is a good thing that this activity has been made illegal, and risks a high fine. Fair enough, because it seriously affects the safety on the road.

In Japan they do this differently, like many other things: in the Aichi prefecture you can use an app that will reward you with a free coffee for every 200 kilometers that you have traveled in the car and have not touched your phone. The app uses the GPS and movement sensors in the phone to achieve this.

So, positive reinforcement, instead of negative. Driving Barista is a joint venture between Toyota, Komeda Co Ltd and KDDI Corporation and is being run as an experiment in an attempt to reduce the number of road deaths in this prefecture, which has been the highest in the country for 13 years. A very original and a very worthwhile initiative is what I call it!

Since we're now on the topic of cars and phones anyway… Recently I read that Land Rover carried out a marketing stunt around their Intelligent Seat Fold technology in which none other than Bear Grylls — yes, the guy from the Discovery Channel — during a free fall from a plane at 200 km/h was able to adjust his seat in a new Land Rover Discovery using his smartphone, before opening his parachute.

Well yes, I think that the Japanese initiative is a little more worthwhile…