Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor has introduced an airbag technology featuring overall protection of the body of passengers inside a driverless vehicle. To make sure that people do not fly out of their seats, the airbag tightly holds the passenger using fasteners.

Compared to conventional cars that have rows of seats facing forward or backward, future cars without the driver's seat can have a totally different seat layout with airbags placed at right places to protect passengers facing different angles.

The "Hug Airbag," shown by Hyundai through a YouTube video on July 12, pops up from the seat in case of an accident to literally hug the passenger and protect body parts such as head, upper body and pelvis from impact.

The carmaker said in a statement it would unveil future car technologies through a series of videos. "As the technology development in the future mobility sector is diversifying day by day, technologies that we have only dreamed of are becoming real," a Hyundai official was quoted as saying.

Hyundai said it has completed applications for seven patents in major countries including South Korea. The new airbag will be applied to level four and five autonomous vehicles. Level four autonomous vehicles can navigate to their destinations autonomously but require human intervention in a case of emergency. Level five autonomous cars do not require a driver.