Toyota improves Owner’s Manual by converting it into an immersive, interactive app: One Toyota app offers 3D navigation and quick usage guides

Toyota has offered a fresh spin on the traditional, lengthy, technical, and quite frankly boring, owner’s manual. The One Toyota app contains the Toyota Driver’s Companion program, which is essentially a virtual and interactive platform detailing usage and maintenance instructions.

The owner’s manual for a car has gone digital, and not the lazy version, which involves uploading a PDF copy of the same on the official website. Toyota has launched an interactive and immersive version of the owner’s manual for its 2021 Sienna car.

Toyota’s 2021 Sienna car gets an interactive owner’s manual within the One Toyota app:

An owner’s manual is a very standardized book that is full of instructions, guides, advisories, recommendations, etc. For several decades, the book format has served car owners well.

While the majority of carmakers continue to offer a physical version of the owner’s manual, Toyota has taken a modern approach. Besides the standard booklet, the Japanese carmaker has released an interactive version of the owner’s manual for its latest 2021 Sienna car.

Toyota has indicated that it is running a “pilot program” on the minivan. It will offer a digital experience for those who desire the same.

Needless to mention, the new owner’s manual is not a PDF version that Toyota uploaded to its website and claimed innovation. Instead, the new version is in the form of an app.

For starters, the manual is in the form of an interactive platform complete with a 3D model of the 2021 Sienna. Users can rotate, double-tap, and pinch to zoom on every aspect of the minivan.

Users can input text or voice their queries within the app. There’s even a virtual assistant within the app named Joya.

Will other carmakers deploy similar versions of the owner’s manual or stick with the old method?

An owner’s manual has effectively remained unchanged for several decades. Only the technologies used within the car get added, but overall, the booklet has retained its form factor and layout.

Toyota has certainly taken a fresh approach to a rather boring aspect of owning a car. Being interactive, the owner’s manual will surely be a lot better at offering information quickly. No more reading the finely typed booklet of vehicle ownership.

Several car owners often skip reading the owner’s manual and miss out on the innovative features that carmakers add to their products. An app could help highlight such aspects, and perhaps help owners better benefit from their purchases.

Incidentally, anyone can download the One Toyota app, but the Toyota Driver’s Companion program is not available to everyone. In order to use the app, Toyota reportedly insists on the unique VIN number of 2021 Sienna.

Considering the benefits for everyone involved, it is quite likely that other carmakers too deploy their own digital versions of the owner’s manual. However, the physical copy certainly won’t disappear anytime soon.