▲ SUV type “Vision-S 02”
This year, CES 2022 was a hybrid of real and virtual exhibitions. At the Sony Group booth in Hollywood, CEO Kenichiro Yoshida gave a lecture. The highlight is the establishment of “Sony Mobility Co., Ltd.”
In addition to products such as aibo and Airpeak drones in the AI robotics division of the Sony Group, the SC-1 “sociable cart” jointly developed with Yamaha will be transferred to this company, but the focus is still on EVs (electric vehicles). It must have announced the consideration of commercialization.
Further details are expected to be at the time of the establishment of Sony Mobility in the spring, but at this stage there is a concrete commercialization plan and roadmap because it is “examination for commercialization of EV (Sony Group public relations)”. is not it.
However, on the other hand, by summarizing the development results of the past two years, it seems that they have begun to think that EVs developed in-house can be added value.
This time, an SUV type EV is also prototyped
Sony Group at CES two years agoVISION-SAnnounced the original EV concept model named. We have added new development elements and updated them. At this CES, along with the updated Vision-S, an SUV type concept car “VISION-S 02” has also been brought in (the conventional VISION-S will be called VISION-S 01).
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CEO Yoshida mentioned the value of Sony Group’s EV technology in three areas: “Safety: safe and secure mobility,” “Adaptability: approaching people and growing together,” and “Entertainment: deepening the mobility entertainment space.”
In terms of safety, we have been proposing and providing total safety solutions using these sensors, centered on our own high-performance image sensors for automobiles and small LiDAR. It is said that the current Vision-S, which incorporates such results in a timely manner and has been undergoing actual driving tests for two years, has 40 sensors inside and outside the car.
In terms of adaptability, the results developed for smartphones will be utilized. Using the ToF distance image sensor that aibo also uses to grasp the owner’s condition and surrounding conditions, it is said that it provides a monitoring function for driver authentication and watching over the passenger.
In addition, aiming to evolve into an intuitive car interface, gesture commands and voice commands are implemented, personalized (that is, according to the user’s preference) cockpit design and information arrangement, acceleration / deceleration feeling setting, etc. Is said to provide.
Of course, it has a communication function by 5G, personalization settings are synchronized by the cloud, and updates of the vehicle body are also reflected in OTA (Over the air). In other words, it is designed to keep up with the latest features and safety.
And when it comes to Entertainment, it’s Sony’s DNA in the first place. The audio system in the car is compatible with 360 Riality Audio, which is a 3D sound technology, and it is said that “BRAVIA Core”, which is also installed in the latest BRAVIA, is built-in.
By fusing these, it is said that the purpose of establishing Sony Mobility is to increase the experience value of EVs and redefine the product of automobiles.
It is not yet the stage to announce a concrete product plan.
However, the availability of core technologies that differentiate EVs seems to have led to the confidence of the Sony Group. First of all, I would like to expect an announcement at the establishment of a business company in February.
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