Toyota Walk Me debuts as a robotic chair that walks, climbs stairs, and folds for travel

A chair that walks where wheels cannot

Toyota has presented Walk Me, a compact robotic mobility chair that literally walks. Revealed at the Japan Mobility Show (2025) in Tokyo, the concept breaks away from wheels entirely to address challenges that stop many wheelchair users in their tracks, from staircases and gravel paths to narrow entrances and the step up into a car. The chair moves on four articulated legs that bend and lift like animal limbs, then packs itself down for easy storage when the trip is over.

The design blends robotics, artificial intelligence, and ergonomics to give users a stable seat that adapts to changing ground. Each leg is wrapped in soft material that conceals motors and sensors, creating a friendly look while reducing snag risks around clothing and furniture. The seat supports the spine with a curved backrest and uses side handles both as armrests and as simple steering controls. Riders can twist the handles to turn, press buttons for direction changes, or speak commands such as ‘kitchen’ or ‘faster’ for hands free navigation. A small display on the armrest shows battery level and distance traveled at a glance.

Walk Me targets the places where wheels struggle most. Stairs are navigated by testing each step first, then pulling and pushing in a steady rhythm to keep the chair centered and balanced. Uneven surfaces, from garden stones to worn thresholds, are handled by sensors and a balance system that changes stance and tilt in real time. The battery is designed to cover a full day of typical use and charges from a standard wall outlet overnight. Safety sensors watch for overheating in joints and pause the system if needed to protect the user.

How the walking chair works

At its core, Walk Me is a legged robot shaped around a human seat. Four independent limbs lift, bend, and place their feet based on a constant stream of sensor data. The control software looks ahead, checks weight distribution, and adjusts the base and seat tilt to keep the rider stable as ground conditions change. The goal is steady, predictable motion that feels calm and safe inside a home or in a busy public space.

Legs modeled on animals

Developers studied sure footed animals that cope well with steep and irregular ground. The gait borrows from goats for confidence on slopes and from crabs for stable lateral movement. When the chair climbs stairs, the front legs probe the step height, then hook and pull the seat upward as the rear legs provide push and support. The sequence repeats smoothly so the user stays balanced. On gravel or uneven pavement, each leg shortens or lengthens its stride to maintain a level seat.

Sensors and balance

A combination of lidar, cameras, and radar scans the environment to detect obstacles like rug edges, toys, and door thresholds. Weight sensors check that the rider is centered before major moves. If a person or object crosses the chair’s path, collision radars trigger an immediate stop. If tilt or load readings drift toward a limit, the controller widens the stance or shifts the seat to prevent tipping. This constant adjustment is what makes legged movement feel smooth instead of jerky.

Controls and interface

The side handles let riders steer by twisting, with buttons for precise direction and speed changes. Voice control adds hands free convenience with simple commands such as ‘kitchen’ to set a destination or ‘faster’ to change pace. A compact display shows remaining battery and distance traveled so planning a day is straightforward. The system is designed to run through a full day on a charge, and it plugs into a regular outlet to recharge. Sensors inside the joints monitor temperature and current draw. If a joint overheats, the chair pauses and alerts the user so it can cool before continuing.

Climbing stairs and handling rough ground

Traditional wheelchairs handle level floors well, yet stairs, tall thresholds, and loose gravel remain difficult without ramps or helpers. Walk Me approaches these obstacles with a step by step gait rather than rolling. The front legs place cautiously, pull the chair up, and the rear legs follow with push. That pattern reduces sudden shifts that can unsettle a rider. The machine constantly checks for slip, height changes, and footing, then adjusts stride length to keep motion predictable.

Other solutions exist for stairs, including tracked chairs and self balancing wheelchairs. Tracked models can climb, yet they are often bulky and heavy. Self balancing chairs such as the iBOT can ascend stairs with training and support, and advanced wheel sets like those on the Scewo chair can lift and stabilize on steps. Walk Me takes a different route by using legs, which can place each foot where grip is best and can widen the stance on demand. Legged motion is complex to control and can use more energy than wheels at the same speed, yet it offers precise foot placement and a seat that can stay level while the legs do the work underneath.

Folds small, travels easily

One of Walk Me’s headline tricks is its ability to pack itself down. With a single command, the legs retract telescopically, the knees tuck in, and the chair compacts to the size of a small carry on in about thirty seconds. That makes it easier to slide into a car trunk or store beside a couch or in a closet. When the user is ready to go again, the chair extends its legs, checks balance, and resumes normal operation without extra setup.

The concept also addresses tasks that often require assistance. For vehicle transfers, the chair can rise on tiptoes to align with a car seat, tilt toward the doorway, and hold steady while the rider shifts across. Inside traditional Japanese homes with tatami floors, the chair can lower its seat close to floor level for comfortable sitting. These features reflect a focus on daily independence, not just lab demos.

Built for daily life in tight spaces

Japanese housing commonly includes narrow corridors, sharp turns, and a raised entry step that separates outdoor shoes from indoor floors. Walk Me was shaped with these spaces in mind. The legs squat to lower the height under door frames, then stretch for reach across the entry step. In cluttered rooms, the perception system looks for low obstacles, cables, and threshold ridges, then plans motions that avoid snags. The soft covers on the legs reduce the chance of scraping furniture, and the chair’s gentle starts and stops aim to make sharing space with family or caregivers more comfortable.

Part of Toyota mobility for all strategy

Walk Me fits a broader shift by Toyota toward accessible mobility that goes beyond cars. The company has spent years developing assistance robots, including the Human Support Robot used in research settings and rehabilitation tools such as the Welwalk system for gait training. It is also building a test community at Woven City to explore how autonomy, robotics, and connected services support daily life. At the same show, Toyota displayed Kids Mobi, a playful electric pod designed for supervised, geofenced travel by children. These projects point to a goal of mobility for people across ages and abilities, whether the trip is across a room or across town.

The move into legged personal mobility is a logical extension of that work. The same sensor fusion and planning used in advanced driver assistance and robot research can guide a walking chair through a living room. The difference is in packaging those technologies safely and gently around a person who may rely on the device for many hours each day. That is why Walk Me combines machine perception with simple physical controls and a seat designed for long sitting comfort.

Challenges before public release

Walk Me remains a prototype with no public launch date or price. Turning a show concept into a reliable assistive device requires rigorous testing, certifications, and a support network. Any chair that carries a person on stairs must handle rare edge cases gracefully, from wet steps to misread edges. Redundant braking and safe fall back behavior are vital. The system already monitors its own joints for heat and faults, yet commercial models would need multiple layers of protection and clear user alerts.

Range, charging, and maintenance will matter in everyday use. An all day battery is helpful if it holds up under the heavier loads of stair climbing. Service access, warranty support, and replacement parts need to be easy to obtain. Training affects outcomes too. Riders and caregivers must learn when to trust autonomous features and when to switch to manual control. Cost and insurance coverage shape access in many countries. Advanced stair capable chairs from other makers are often priced in the tens of thousands of dollars. If Walk Me reaches market, pricing, financing, and repair services will strongly influence adoption.

What sets legged mobility apart

Legs give a machine options that wheels lack. A foot can step over a cord or place itself on a small safe patch of ground, while the seat stays level. The center of mass can be shifted sideways to keep balance on a slope while the legs reach uphill. That versatility is why animals climb and traverse complex ground so well. The tradeoff is control complexity. The computer must coordinate dozens of joint movements, sense load and tilt in real time, and recover from minor slips without alarming the rider. Energy use can be higher than a wheeled chair moving on a flat corridor, which makes careful gait planning and efficient motors important to preserve range.

Walk Me’s approach tries to keep the difficult parts under the surface. The covers hide moving joints, the seat looks familiar, and the handles feel like simple armrests until a twist turns the chair. Voice commands replace long menus. If the chair does the right thing automatically, the rider can focus on the trip rather than the machine. That balance, simple for the user and complex under the hood, is the central promise of legged personal mobility.

Why design details matter

Assistive devices succeed when people are comfortable using them in public and at home. Walk Me’s soft leg covers and pastel colored finishes signal comfort instead of industrial machinery. The compact footprint aims to reduce the sense of occupying a large space in a crowded room. A quiet gait matters for social comfort in libraries, offices, and classrooms. Little touches, like a readable display and handles that double as controls, lower the learning curve. Friendly appearance and predictable behavior can increase acceptance by building owners and transit operators as well as by neighbors and coworkers.

The Bottom Line

• Toyota’s Walk Me is a walking mobility chair with four robot legs designed to tackle stairs, uneven ground, and tight spaces.
• The concept debuted at the Japan Mobility Show (2025) and highlights a push toward mobility for all beyond traditional cars.
• Legs are inspired by animals, with front legs testing steps and pulling while rear legs push to climb safely.
• Lidar, cameras, radar, and weight sensors guide obstacle avoidance and keep the seat level and balanced.
• Controls include twist handles, buttons, and voice commands such as ‘kitchen’ and ‘faster’, with a display for battery and distance.
• The battery is designed to last a full day and recharges from a standard wall outlet.
• Safety systems monitor joint heat and can pause the chair if a limit is reached.
• The device folds itself to carry on size in about thirty seconds, then extends and recalibrates when reactivated.
• Features shown include assistance with vehicle transfers and the ability to lower seat height for use on tatami floors.
• It remains a prototype with no production timeline or pricing, and real world rollout would require testing, certification, and support services.