CES 2024 was stuffed with all types of tech, however Sony’s unveiling of its idea automotive, Afeela, in all probability needs to be the showstopper. You’d suppose it’ll simply be one other Tesla wannabe, however no—you possibly can management the car with the DualSense controller.
The PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller is usually hailed as among the best controllers thus far. And as demonstrated at Sony’s CES occasion, now you can use it to regulate an precise automotive. They’ve partnered with Honda to create their first electrical car, which was “pushed” onstage utilizing the controller by Izumi Kawanishi, the president of the three way partnership Sony Honda Mobility.
Neat, However Not Sensible for Many Causes
Kawanishi launched the newest iteration of the tech the group has been engaged on by busting out the PS5 controller. He stated he’d like to indicate the viewers a side of the software program behind Afeela. Then, with some soothing piano music, he piloted the multi-ton car onto the stage utilizing the DualSense—Gran Turismo-style—within the room. Because it was pushed out, the automotive’s headlights lit up amidst the darkened stage. Cameras have been additionally mounted inside to show the car had no driver on the steering wheel.
Kawanished reassured the gang that this was only a tech demo; the DualSense-controlled Sony automotive isn’t coming to a showroom close to you but. The purpose of the Afeela was to indicate Honda and Sony’s perception that software program can outline new values and capabilities. He then highlighted the electrical car’s camera-equipped AI imaginative and prescient system, which aids automated driving.
The concept of with the ability to drive a automotive utilizing a controller is a novelty for positive. If somebody allowed me to remotely management an empty automotive on an enormous observe to race my pals, you don’t must ask me twice. However let’s be trustworthy—no person’s going to drive round of their automotive utilizing the DualSense to steer.
A Flashy Entrance Certainly
At an occasion highlighting tech like CES, knocking folks’s socks off could be tough since everybody’s making an attempt to impress the customers and content material creators. Nonetheless, I’ve to say Sony’s social gathering trick with the Afeela and DualSense controller was significantly memorable. It appeared like a reversal of the PlayStation’s regular promise. As an alternative of utilizing the {hardware}, just like the PSVR2, to supply an immersive digital world, at that second, it was employed to have an effect on the true world.
The DualSense controller is a gaming system that’s designed primarily for use by youngsters, but it surely does have some bells and whistles that make it viable for automotive purposes. For instance, its haptic suggestions within the palm grips might make it so that you’d really feel the nuances and bumps within the highway and sense climate situations. Sadly, the flexibility to regulate a automotive with it’s merely a one-time tech demo, however maybe it is a signal that Sony plans to make new variations of the DualSense that may have non-gaming-related options.
Sony has penned the Afeela’s launch within the US for 2023. The corporate has but to disclose any particulars concerning worth or vary.
