Mark Matousek/Business Insider
The Sony Vision-S at CES
- At CES, Sony unveiled the Vision-S, a futuristic prototype car that comes loaded with sensors for monitoring its passengers and surroundings and a huge infotainment system with spatial audio.
- The announcement marks an expansion into the automotive space for Sony, which makes cameras and sound systems for vehicles - but never a car itself.
- But most importantly, it's further evidence that tech companies are getting increasingly involved in determining what the future of the car looks like.
- Part of that is due to the rise of self-driving car technology. Carmakers and tech giants are thinking about a future in which cars no longer require a human to be behind the wheel, and they're already competing to occupy your time and attention in the time that may have otherwise been dedicated to driving.
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In a surprise move earlier this week at the CES technology conference, Sony unveiled a prototype smart car called the Vision-S.
Transform talent with learning that worksCapability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More It's a high-tech vehicle that comes loaded with sensors that can see the car's surroundings, a massive infotainment system, and the ability to detect the driver's alertness level - among other futuristic features.
Sony is far from being the first company to experiment with bringing such technologies into the car. But the announcement further underscores the ways in which technology giants are increasingly pushing their way into the automotive industry as they hope to cash in on what could potentially be the next major wave of computing.
Automotive technology has always been a major theme at CES, but most of the announcements, concept vehicles, and flashy demos come from industry leaders like Ford, Toyota, and Honda - not from a company like Sony, that's best known for its deep roots in the entertainment and consumer electronics industries.
And yet, Sony's Vision-S bridges the two worlds. It's a prototype with smart features geared toward safety, comfort, and entertainment that the company hopes to test on roads later in 2020.
The vehicle has 33 sensors located on the interior and exterior for providing driving assistance and monitoring the well-being of the car's passengers. Cameras, for example, can alert a driver about a nearby pedestrian even before he or she is visible, the company says. Sony's spatial audio system will also be installed in each individual seat within the car, and a giant panoramic screen for watching movies and TV will replace the traditional dashboard in the Vision-S.
All of that said, while it was certainly unexpected for Sony to launch a car, it didn't completely come out of nowhere.