Sony Honda Mobility has unveiled the latest prototype of the AFEELA electric car at CES 2024, featuring innovative technologies and advancements that set it on the path towards mass production. Using a PlayStation 5 controller, the prototype maintains its design concept from CES 2023, with a focus on artificial intelligence capabilities.
The AFEELA electric car prototype incorporates various technological features resulting from collaborations with industry giants such as Epic Games, Microsoft, and Polyphony Digital. In partnership with Epic Games, Sony Honda Mobility leverages Unreal Engine to create an augmented reality experience for the infotainment and navigation system of the AFEELA. This collaboration aims to provide a video game-like GPS and navigation system, allowing drivers to activate road maps that resemble a gaming interface while cruising. The advanced sensors in the electric car capture real-time 3D objects, enabling drivers to view their location from different angles.
Epic Games is also contributing 3D mapping technology for the AFEELA, introducing playful visual elements, such as monsters and underwater effects, that can be activated by the driver and front passenger, enhancing the overall driving experience. In addition to the collaboration with Epic Games, Sony Honda Mobility is joined by Microsoft for the integration of artificial intelligence, offering drivers a personal mobility agent.
The collaboration with Microsoft involves co-developing a conversational personal agent for the AFEELA’s system using the Azure OpenAI service. This voice-enabled setup, with a human-like accent and tone, allows drivers to communicate with their personal mobility agent as if conversing with a real person. The AFEELA’s cabin is designed to provide an immersive experience, featuring large infotainment screens for all occupants, a noise-canceling interior akin to soundproof cinemas, and Sony’s spatial audio throughout the seats and cabin.
Equipped with ultra-wideband sensors and cameras, the AFEELA electric car offers a personalized experience. As the driver approaches, the car greets them with light and automatically opens the doors. The EV runs an authentication process to ensure the driver’s identity, setting up the destination and route map on a panoramic display. The sensors and cameras monitor traffic conditions, providing driving assistance based on high-precision data.
Sony Honda Mobility has leveraged AI, sensors, and cameras to make the AFEELA autonomous enough to park itself when the driver leaves the vehicle. AFEELA also features a thematic cabin where the driver can choose a specific theme for their driving experience, and the smart cabin adjusts lighting, sound, and display accordingly.
The front exterior of AFEELA includes a strip of LED dipslide just below the curved light, known as the Media Bar, serving as an external information display. It can relay information to external observers, such as displaying warning signs if the vehicle is too close to a rear bumper, projecting the battery percentage, and presenting animated sequences resembling mobile billboard advertising.
For technical specifications, the AFEELA electric car boasts a front and rear electric motor power of 180 kilowatts and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery capacity of 91 kilowatts. The interior design focuses on a low-contrast color palette and fine textures, creating an inviting space with seats made of aluminum and glass. While AFEELA is heading towards mass production, Sony Honda Mobility has not yet announced a specific timeline for the release of its electric car.
