Sony Honda Mobility Inc. (SHM) is taking its Afeela prototype on the road to showcase the innovative media-focused car to prospective customers. The second exclusive four-week pop-up event begins today at the Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, CA, which follows the one running at Westfield Century City until February 26th. This latest immersive experience is scheduled to run until March 18th, with attendees receiving a customized demonstration and pre-reserved slots allowing for undisturbed exploration of the car’s features.

In previous years, SHM stole the spotlight at CES as it slowly unveiled its Afeela brand and prototype electric vehicle. At CES 2024, SHM brought the Afeela back with some updates and an eye toward mass production.

The updated Afeela EV sedan included side view mirrors—replacing the cameras on last year’s version—and larger headlights. The company also released some specifications, including 180-kW electric motors on each axle (front and rear), battery capacity of 91 kW·h, and 150-kW charging capability. No battery range numbers have been released.

SHM Representative Director, President, and COO Izumi Kawanishi offered details (starting at 25 min here) on the updated Afeela and the company’s overall direction. He said SHM aims to realize AD (automated driving) and ADAS (advanced driving assistance system) advancements through the use of a number of sensing devices and artificial intelligence (AI) in mobility, and by using what it calls Vision Transformer for perception and machine learning for path planning. The company will develop a redundant system for safety using Qualcomm Technologies’ high-performance system-on-chips (SoCs) for automotive applications.

SHM announced a collaboration with Epic Games to create new value in mobility services and entertainment, and it unveiled a simulator that uses virtual spaces to create a new user experience in mobility. The tool simulates external environmental conditions such as information for other vehicles, pedestrians, terrain, and weather.

By combining this technology with augmented reality (AR), SHM says its users will enjoy an immersive experience that also enhances safety. A 3D map built from extensive metadata from the internet is overlaid in the AR environment, using map data to broaden the possibilities within the development of gaming and entertainment features. Kawanishi said SHM will use the latest version of the Unreal Engine 5 gaming engine to achieve the simulator’s features.

Kawanishi revealed the opening of the Afeela Co-Creation Program, a mobility development environment where creators and developers can freely develop applications and services that run on Afeela, as well as a digital platform for co-creation and the expression of creativity.

SHM announced two new collaborations at CES 2024.

The first is an agreement with Microsoft to develop a conversational personal agent using the Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

The second new collaboration is intended to develop vehicles that fuse the virtual and the real, mainly in the area of human senses and emotions by combining Polyphony Digital’s simulation technology with the development of vehicles by SHM to create new value with partners by sharing vehicle information. The purpose of the partnership with the Sony Interactive Entertainment subsidiary is to develop vehicles that fuse the virtual and the real mainly in the area of human senses and emotions.

The Afeela prototype introduced at the CES 2024 press conference will be included in a patch update for Gran Turismo 7 later this year. Before the vehicle is released, gamers will have an opportunity to drive the car in the game.

U.S. sales for the Afeela are scheduled to start in 2026.

 

Kevin Jost contributed to this article.