- The Honda Augmented Driving Concept is a topless car that offers semi- or fully-autonomous driving
- ESMO Concept personal mobility device presented for the first time in North America
- Honda Mobile Power Pack is a renewable and convenient way to store and use portable energy
As automakers diversify their activities to become mobility companies, solutions are being presented to develop an emissions-free, sustainable lifestyle for everyone. At this year’s CES 2020, Japanese company Honda unveiled a wide range of products and ideas for a greener future.
One of them is the Honda Energy Management Concept, aiming to create renewable and convenient ways to collect and store energy. It consists of the Honda Mobile Power Pack, which is a portable and swappable battery with a capacity of 1 kWh or more.
The Honda Mobile Power Pack could be used for various purposes, in a universal format. Several units could also be used simultaneously, providing energy to motorcycles, mobility products or even supply a steady flow of electricity to homes. These packs would be recharged with a distributor station, even plugged into the power grid or—even better—connected to solar panels.
The power pack can also be fitted to the Honda ESMO Concept (which stands for Electric Smart Mobility), which is a motorized personal mobility device designed to help disabled or elderly people get around.
Also presented at CES 2020, the Honda Augmented Driving Concept is a fully electric, topless car that can transition seamlessly between autonomous and semi-autonomous driving. Acceleration and braking is performed by pushing and pulling on the steering wheel, and the concept’s in-vehicle sensors read the driver’s intention in order for the self-driving system to kick in when needed.
Similar to Amazon Alexa or Mercedes-Benz’s MBUX interface, the Honda Personal Assistant is a powerful voice recognition system that relies on Houndify’s AI platform to provide an advanced in-car conversational interface. The system is activated by saying “Ok Honda.”
Honda and Drivemode teamed up to create Smartphone as Brain technology, which integrates our phones to the car driving or motorcycle riding experience while reducing distraction. Riders can connect a phone through Bluetooth and browse through the on-screen menus using a handlebar-mounted switch. Drivers can also snap their smartphone into their vehicle’s infotainment system, allowing them to send and receive voice messages, report road hazards and get turn-by-turn navigation indications.
Other startup companies benefit from the Honda’s support and are presenting their innovations at CES 2020. That includes Monolith AI and its predictive model design performance software, Noonee and its chairless char exoskeleton, Skelex and its ergo-skeleton for reducing strain on the body during harder or repetitive tasks as well as UVeye and its AI-driven, 360-degree vehicle inspection system.
CES attendees also get the opportunity to check out Honda’s mobility ecosystem, which previews what the year 2035 will look like regarding personal transportation. That includes a V2X (vehicle-to-everything) system, a shared mobility pod and a vertical takeoff & landing (VTOL) vehicle.
