Sony ended up being one of the biggest surprises of the CES tech show by unveiling a concept-prototype electric vehicle (EV) dubbed the Vision S.
While the car is not available for sale to the public, Sony’s chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida, said:
We will accelerate our efforts to contribute to the future of mobility.
The electronics giant thought of many things while putting together this concept car. Ultra-wide panoramic touch screens are on display the entire length of the dashboard, “for driving information and entertainment.” There are five screens spanning across the front and each works independently from the others. The center council was also equipped with a touch screen.
The back seat also has two viewing screens that are attached to the back of the headrests. Sony also fitted the vehicle with high-end-sound equipment that you would expect that includes speakers in each headrest, which they said would give the passengers the ability to choose the sound in their speakers and watch several different things simultaneously.
As reported in The Verge, screen animations are excellent and very fluid. The screens have swipe technology to move content from one screen to another. The big silver dial below the center console screen serves multiple purposes including easily changing the volume.
Sony also reported that there are 33 sensors in the vehicle including internal image recognition sensors of the passengers, which would allow or disable the occupant from controlling the settings.
The Vision S would give the ability for driver assistance technology. Outside the vehicle, the image sensors would be able to analyze the road up ahead, along with image sensors attached to side view cameras that would take the place of traditional side-view mirrors. The company also included features like LIDAR and radar sensors.
Even if Sony’s Vision S never becomes a reality, many of these technologies could be implemented in the future.
General Manager of Sony Corporation’s AI and Robotics business group, Yuhei Yabe explains how this may help the company evolve:
Through the process of building the prototype, we started to learn a lot about the architecture of the vehicle, we started to think about how our other technologies could be implemented in a vehicle.
Sony worked together with auto manufacturer Magna on the project, for the engineering. They say the car can go 0-60mph in around 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of 149mph, which is powered by two 200kW motors (one on each axle). It’s reported that Sony wouldn’t give the battery specs, but the display showed with 80% charge, 277 miles remained. However, an image on the Sony website shows the display with 82% and 344 miles remaining.
Sony said they feel these technologies can be used to power all kinds of EVs from cars to SUVs. This move by Sony surprised many of the attendees including Bob O’Donnell from Technalysis Research, who told the BBC: “It was quite a shock, to be honest with you. It highlights how the company is reinventing itself.”
