CES 2017: Honda debuts 'Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem'

Honda has unveiled its Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem concept at the 2017 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas today.

Through the Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem, Honda dreams of vehicles having the ability to communicate with each other to utilize universality on road safety. The system was a product of collaboration with Visa, DreamWorks Animation, and innovative start-ups through Honda Developer Studio and Honda Xcelerator.

Along with the introduction of the Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem are the debut of the NeuV concept’s “emotion engine,” the Moto Riding Assist motorcycle concept model, and the self-balancing personal mobility device “UNI-CUB”.

Honda NeuV

One of Honda’s key pieces making an appearance at the 2017 CES is the NeuV (New Electric Urban Vehicle), a concept vehicle that integrates an artificial intelligence (AI) feature. The said “emotion engine” named HANA found inside the NeuV is a product of Honda and Softbank.

HANA stands for Honda Automated Network Assistant and its function is to make future recommendations by learning the driver’s emotions based on his judgments and past decisions. Furthermore, it can also detect the driver’s emotional status, make music recommendations according to mood, and support the owner’s daily driving routine.

Honda Moto Riding Assist

With the introduction of the “emotion engine” comes a technology for Honda’s other market. In a global debut, Honda unveiled its Moto Riding Assist technology, which is a self-balancing motorcycle even at rest. The technology that keeps the bike from falling is shared from Honda’s UNI-CUB, rather than using gyroscopes that could add unnecessary weight.

Honda UNI-CUB

Another Honda debutant at the 2017 CES is the UNI-CUB, a personal mobility device that is controllable by shifting the passenger’s weight. Even more, just recently, Honda seeks ways to maneuver the UNI-CUB by using software applications from smartphones and other devices by opening UNI-CUB’s application program interface (API) to the public.

Of note, with its ability to freely move fort and back, side-to-side, and diagonally suggests that it can easily maneuver among people and in a crowd.

Safe Swarm

Accompanying the 3 concept vehicles is Honda’s Safe Swarm – a concept to improve safety in driving through the use of mimicking how a school of fishes behave. This advances autonomous technology with vehicle-to-vehicle communication, creating a safer driving and driverless travelling experiences.

More so, the technology uses dedicated short range communication (DSRC), which supports the driver’s participation in negotiating complex driving situations with other vehicles.

The autonomous age has dawned, and Honda, like all automakers, is working to refine and advance this technology to achieve our goal for a collision-free society in the 2040 timeframe,” said Honda R&D Americas president Frank Paluch. 

He further noted that they are willing to work with others to create a guaranteed safe environment for motorists.