Toyota has been on the receiving end of some criticism lately, from recalls to their inability to produce a well-received sports car, the Japanese manufacturer appears to be suffering from tall poppy syndrome.

So what better way to cheer us up than a gigantic Playsation?

The newly built driving simulator is designed to analyse the behaviour of average drivers as part of a project to develop improved active safety technology. Based at Toyota’s Higashifuji Technical Centre in Japan, it is arguably the world’s most-realistic simulated driving environment.

Toyota says the simulator is used for tests that would prove too dangerous to perform in the real world or would require specific driving conditions (e.g. snow).

The simulator uses an actual car situated on a platform housed inside a 7.1m diameter dome, the inside of which serves as a giant 360-degree video screen.

Perhaps best suited for a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster, the simulator uses a tilt mechanism, vibration apparatus and other devices to manipulate the dome with precision control. The dome itself can be moved around an area the equivalent of four tennis courts.

The company says the simulator not only gives a true sense of driving but also a sense of speed, acceleration and ride comfort through turns and other driving manoeuvres. But it gets better, because there are also a variety of sound effects to top it off.

More nanny controls you say? Perhaps. Toyota has stated its long-term aim is to build cars that never crash!