The spy photos of the Sony Vision-S that were shot a few months ago gave good hope that the prototype presented at the Ces in Las Vegas in 2020 was in the pipeline. But this is not the case. This was declared by Izumi Kawanishi, the executive vice president of the Japanese giant: “At the moment we have no concrete plans on the Vision-S – he comments to Automotive News -. We are still in a phase of research and development and we must understand how to transform this prototype into an interesting product for the mobility of the future ”.
For sale or just a concept?
It is not yet known therefore, if the car will one day be directly purchasable by Playstation & co fans or if Sony at the moment, waiting for autonomous driving, is only working hard to put the most enviable automotive project on the road. . Objective: to become a reference point for the sector and for professionals. To date, several partners working at Vision-S: Nvidia, Bosch, Continental, Qualcomm, but also startups such as the Hungarian automated driving AIMotive, the telecommunications giant Vodafone, the German manufacturer of car components ZF Group. The car would roll off the Austrian assembly line of Magna Steyr. Fans cross their fingers. President Frank Stein at his overseas debut hinted that the car would not remain exclusively a showcar.
Sony Vision-S: all the entertainment possible on board
Sony, an entertainment technology professional, however, is currently creating a real living room on wheels. “There is a lot of content, movies, music and games but we must understand the opportunity and above all understand if and how to build the right system to allow it to be used in vehicles”, commented the manager. The concept boasts the 360 Reality Audio System, a special audio system capable of creating a “sound sphere” for each individual passenger; driving assistance systems with 40 sensors to analyze the external environment at 360 degrees; inside, a video camera to monitor the occupants and therefore regulate volume, climate and rear lights, for example, if passengers are asleep. There are also technologies such as voice assistant, gesture control, and entertainment with the 5G connection: without less, guests will be able to connect to the Playstation Network and update everything wirelessly. For those who sit behind the wheel, however, the propulsive part will have two 200 kilowatt electric motors (one on each axis) for acceleration from 0 to 100 in 4.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 240 kilometers per hour.
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