Sony's getting serious! As well as revealing the Vision-S 02 SUV prototype, it's officially announced it 'intends to explore entry into the EV market'
► EV prototypes revealed in saloon and SUV formSony's back with another electric car prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show – this time in the shape of an SUV. The new model is currently called the Vision-S 02, and it's another test bed for its future automotive-focused technology.
'I think we certainly have a lot of opportunity in the automotive space,' Kawanishi told CAR over video link. Known especially for his work on Sony's robotic Aibo dog, Kawanishi's background in AI Robotics is more related to automotive than you'd first think. The result of those discussions is the Vision-S. Now testing on public roads, Sony’s first EV is a modest looking sedan. Finished in the same silver and chrome as – presumably intentionally – an old MiniDisc player or old Wega widescreen, it’s handsome, but not overtly so.
Although the Vision-S looks production ready in the most recent videos, Sony isn’t about to churn them out, and Kawanishi is quick to recalibrate our expectations. ‘It’s just a showcase at this time,’ he tells us. ‘Frankly its current status is an R&D base,’ he says later on.Rather than building a whole car, Sony is flexing its R&D muscles and focusing on autonomous safety technology and interior entertainment; the Vision-S is merely a stylish test bed.
In the same way Sony approached Magna to build the chassis, it’s partnering with AI Motive, a Hungarian-based company specialising in autonomous tech. And despite its technological might, Sony is setting conservative targets. Kawanishi tells us the Vision-S’s voice recognition tech comes primarily from Sony’s range of Xperia phones, as does the crisp UI, and there are Sony-branded displays throughout the cabin. The Japanese giant’s experience with mobile devices also contributes to Vision-S Link, a counterpart app for the EV.Sony’s mission, then, is to jump from the living room to the car, and with the industry’s trend toward larger touchscreens and autonomous tech it’s not the leap it first seems.
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