New Delhi, Jan 5 (FN Agency) Sony, which intends to enter the electric vehicles (EV) market has announced it will establish an operating company Sony Mobility Inc. in the spring of 2022. “Sony is well-positioned as a ‘creative entertainment company’ to redefine mobility,” said Sony Group Corporation Chairman, President and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida at a press conference. At CES 2022 in Los Angeles, US, the company announced and exhibited VISION-S 02 – SUV-type prototype vehicle. The vehicle uses the same EV/cloud platform as the VISION-S 01 prototype, which is being tested on public roads. Safety: The concept vehicle supports safe driving by recognizing and analyzing the surrounding environment in real-time, with sensors installed 360 degrees around the vehicle. These sensors include high-sensitivity, high-resolution, wide dynamic range CMOS image sensors and LiDAR sensors that accurately sense three-dimensional space.
It also provides intuitive driver interaction in conjunction with the vehicle’s sound system and HMI – Human-Machine Interface- system, so that the driver can accurately judge the status of the surrounding environment, such as the presence of emergency vehicles, even from inside the vehicle. The company aims to provide greater safety and comfort to all through its sensor and communication technologies and is currently conducting functional verification tests in Europe toward the release of Level 2+ advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) on public roads. Adaptability: Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors are used in the vehicle to provide monitoring functions for driver authentication and to watch over passengers. They also support intuitive gesture and voice commands that are intended to enhance the usability of the car interface. Additionally, in order to deliver an environment that suits each user’s preferences, the vehicle will include a new function that allows users to customize the display theme and the acceleration and deceleration sounds of the vehicle. Vehicle settings, key locks, and user settings can be synchronized by linking the vehicle to the cloud using mobile communication, including 5G communication, which features low-latency, high-capacity, and high-speed capabilities. Remote operation: Sony has positioned remote operation as an important technology in anticipation of the arrival of the autonomous driving era.
To achieve this, the company conducted driving experiments connecting Japan and Germany with 5G and is working with its partners to achieve low-latency transmission (video and control signals) and communication control (monitoring and prediction) using the telematics system installed in VISION-S 01. Entertainment: The seat speakers provide an immersive music experience. Additionally, to provide a high-quality movie experience, the vehicle includes the fully integrated digital video service “BRAVIA CORE for VISION-S.” The service enables shared or individual video playback on the front panoramic screen and individual rear-seat displays.