Toyota launches Seat Selfie to promote safety

Car manufacturer Toyota has launched a mobile app called ‘Seat Selfie’ that helps to identify if the user is wearing a seat belt. The campaign will run across Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Myanmar and Pakistan Indonesia,  The Philippines and Vietnam.The app works by scanning a selfie uploaded by the user. It will nudge the user to buckle up it fails to detect a fastened seatbelt.The app was developed by Toyota in collaboration with digital interactive production company Hakuhodo i-studio and Yamasaki Lab of The University of Tokyo to encourage drivers and passengers to belt up, as part of the automobile maker’s annual regional campaign to promote road safety in Asia.Toyota is also leveraging social media for wider outreach. Seat Selfie, upon detecting the correct use of seatbelt on the user, will provide a prompt to share the selfie over Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, WhatsApp and Line to spread the safety behavior.In line with the campaign theme ‘We Are Safety Leaders’, this year’s programme will also launch a pledge site to rally the community to step up to affirm their commitment to be ‘Safety Leaders’, using their selfies taken with the mobile app.“Belting up is such a simple and easy action but it can save lives and reduce injuries from collision. A safer road environment can be achieved if everyone does their part to keep themselves safe and look out for other road users,” Hao Tien, senior vice president, Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, said.This year’s campaign adds another call-out with its slogan ‘Safety is in your hands’, which aims to invoke a sense of ownership and accountability in drivers and passengers to take responsibility for their own safety.