CES 2024: Sony Honda Mobility showcases AI mobility through the Afeela Prototype
Sony and Honda forged a partnership in early 2022 in an unexpected alliance, revealing ambitious plans to collaborate. This strategic venture gave rise to a new entity, straightforwardly named Sony Honda Mobility, marking their foray into the automotive industry with the introduction of their inaugural vehicle, the Afeela. Initially christened at the preceding year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the duo showcased a more refined and production-oriented electric vehicle (EV) version at the 2024 CES.
Photo: Sony Honda MobilityÂ
Despite its unassuming nomenclature, the Sony Honda Mobility Afeela distinguishes itself with an intriguing design. The sleek electric sedan underwent notable enhancements, featuring conventional side mirrors in lieu of cameras and sporting a subtly modified front bumper with an added spoiler lip. Now more gracefully contoured, the headlights complement thicker pillars compared to the prototype unveiled the previous year. At the rear, an additional black trim piece above the license plate and a new protruding element on the bumper contribute to the car’s aesthetic evolution.
Photo: Sony Honda MobilityÂ
Izumi Kawanishi, the Representative Director, President, and COO, took center stage at CES 2024 in Las Vegas to unveil the evolved prototype, shedding light on two pivotal aspects of the project: “AI for ADAS” and “Mobility as a Creative Entertainment Space.” Under the overarching theme of “Redefining the relationship between people and mobility,” Kawanishi emphasized the project’s groundbreaking strides.
Photo: Sony Honda MobilityÂ
Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) aspires to revolutionize the dynamics of transportation by reimagining the connection between individuals and mobility. Their vision encompasses the realization of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (AD/ADAS) through the integration of multiple sensing devices and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the realm of mobility. The endeavor extends beyond conventional transportation paradigms, aiming to create an innovative user experience by leveraging vehicle data and sensing data. In pursuit of this goal, SHM is actively developing entertainment and gaming features that utilize virtual space in collaboration with Epic Games.
With an unwavering commitment to evolving mobility based on user preferences, SHM envisions an open mobility development environment. This environment is designed to empower creators and developers to freely craft applications and services tailored for the Afeela, fostering a community that propels the evolution of mobility.
Photo: Sony Honda MobilityÂ
In a strategic move to enhance conversational capabilities within the Afeela, SHM has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to develop a conversational personal agent utilizing Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. This partnership reflects a commitment to advancing the human-machine interface within the vehicle.
Furthermore, SHM has embarked on a collaboration with Polyphony Digital in vehicle development. The synergy between SHM and Polyphony Digital aims to create vehicles that seamlessly blend the virtual and real realms, mainly focusing on human senses and emotions. This entails combining Polyphony Digital’s simulation technology with the tangible development of vehicles by SHM, ushering in a new era where virtual and physical components harmoniously coalesce.
