Honda recently unveiled its Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem concept, designed to connect the power of artificial intelligence, robotics and big data with the stated aim of transforming mobility experience and quality of life. The Honda concept envisions a future where vehicles will communicate with each other and infrastructure to mitigate traffic congestion and eliminate traffic fatalities, while increasing the productivity of road users and delivering new types of in-vehicle entertainment experiences. The company says vehicles will create new value by autonomously providing services when not in use by their owners.
Honda concurrently announced collaborations with Visa, DreamWorks Animation and several start-ups through the Honda Developer Studio and Honda Xcelerator open innovation programs based out of Honda Silicon Valley Lab.
In support of this initiative and as a proof of concept, Honda at CES introduced the Honda NeuV, an electric automated mini-vehicle concept equipped with an artificial intelligence (AI) “emotion engine” and automated personal assistant.
“Since our founding, Honda has focused on creating technologies that help people,” said Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, President & CEO, Honda R&D. “Our goal is to showcase a future technology path that results in a redefined mobility experience.”
The NeuV, or New Electric Urban Vehicle, is a concept vehicle based on the fact that privately-owned vehicles sit idle 96 percent of the time. It is designed to explore the idea of how to create new value for its owner by functioning as an automated ride sharing vehicle, picking up and dropping off riders at local destinations when the owner is not using the car. It can sell energy back to the electric grid, also.
“We designed NeuV to become more valuable to the owner by optimizing and monetizing the vehicle’s down time,” said Mike Tsay, principal designer, Honda R&D Americas.
The NeuV “emotion engine,” developed by Honda and SoftBank, will learn from the driver by detecting the emotions behind the driver’s judgments and then, based on the driver’s past decisions, make new choices and recommendations. It can check on the driver’s emotional well-being, make music recommendations based on mood, and support the owner’s daily driving routine.
“The autonomous age has dawned, and Honda, like all automakers, is working to refine and advance this technology to achieve our goal for a collision-free society in the 2040 timeframe,” said Frank Paluch, president, Honda R&D Americas. “Using vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications and drawing upon big data and artificial intelligence, Honda will work with others to create an environment in which road conditions are predicted and managed, and collisions avoided.”
Edited by
Alicia Young