It is without doubt that engineers have come so far with car technologies since the invention of the internal combustion engine. Now we have autonomous vehicles, electric-powered cars, and automobile embedded with voice recognition technology.
All these vehicle advancements and more were among the most anticipated in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), with events around Las Vegas in 2017. About 170,000 visitors flocked booths, conferences, and announcements this year.
The world’s most attended tech show revealed several stunning engineering by automakers, providing an insight of the future of cars. Here are the top vehicles that made rounds at CES 2017:
Toyota Concept-i
Designed for the driver in the year 2030, the Concept-i is Toyota’s version of an autonomous car. The company’s idea is to focus on humanizing the technology and make it more approachable through the artificially intelligent companion named Yui. The AI can track your emotions as a driver and a person so it could adapt its behavior via the dashboard, interior and exterior light, sound, and even haptic feedback.
The Concept-i has the capability to shift from manual to autonomous driving. And in either mode, pedestrians and other cars around get a notice by the exterior lighting system. Yui can also greet others along the car’s way on top of notifying the drivers about upcoming road hazards or turns.
Faraday Future FF 91
The world’s fastest production car emerged to be one of the most interesting cars at CES 2017. The FF 91 by Faraday Future is said to run from 0 to 60mph in only 2.39 seconds, operated by an all-electric drive system with 1,050hp and at a 378-mile range on a single charge.
It packs a Light Detection and Ranging system, cameras, sensors for the self-driving technology. On top of that, there is a facial recognition feature to unlock the car and a glass roof that can change from clear to shade with just a tap.
Production of the Faraday FF 91 will start in 2018 for a $5,000 deposit price. The total price is yet to be disclosed.
Honda NeuV
There’s a new concet car by Honda that will soon hit the world’s biggest cities. Called the Honda NeuV which means New Electric Utility Vehicle, the urban car combines autonomous driving, car sharing, electric charging, and connectivity. And oh, did I mention artificial intelligence?
Honda NeuV boasts of an AI helper and companion named Hana that lives inside the monitor dashboard of the car. It can carry a conversation; more importantly, Hana can sense the driver’s emotions through heart rate monitoring and face recognition.
Perhaps its most unique feature is the car sharing service. Honda envisions that the NeuV can be lent while the owner is at office or at home.
Rinspeed Oasis
A car from Rinspeed is weighing in in the self-driving vehicle technology. The Rinspeed Oasis displayed at CES 2017 features a “living space”, complete with an armchair, a TV, and two swivelling seats. It also has a windshield that gives an immersion to virtual reality and augmented reality. If the driver and its passenger want to relax inside, the Oasis can provide just that.
It is also suited as a delivery vehicle, given that is comes with a delivery drawer that is climate-controlled and password-protected.
Renault POM
The greatest takeaway from the Renault POM is that the electric vehicles let third-party companies copy and modify existing software to entirely customize the car. The open-source car running with a 62-mile range is based on Renault’s popular Twizy. It was made with OSVehicle which offers on-demand vehicle design and engineering.
Target customers are start-ups, independent laboratories, private customers and researchers so they could fiddle with what the single-seat car is already given them.
BMW HoloActive Touch Concept
This BMW concept car is all about holographic controls as its name suggests. The HoloActive Touch has a virtual touchscreen, which is a floating graphic next to the steering wheel that can be touched by the driver further controlling the car’s system. No need to physically touch anything to go through the car’s interactive features.
There’s a camera that tracks the position and contact of the driver’s fingertips to the holographic projections.
In last year’s CES, the automaker revealed the AirTouch gesture control. The HoloActive touch uses that tech.
Hyundai Mobility Vision
Hyundai revealed at CES 2017 a concept car that promises to be integrated with your living room, literally becoming a part of your furniture. The Mobility Vision has a mountable driver’s seat that can replace a sofa or a chair, which pivots back into the car when the driver has to leave the house.
The autonomous car blurs the line between home and car, the South Korean automaker says. Having the driver’s seat inside the house, it can cool down the living room and provide music thanks to the car’s air conditioning system and sound system, respectively. Moreover, the car serves as a power source for it runs on a hydrogen fuel cell which can be used as a backup generator.
Panasonic Autonomous Cabin
Cars may not be the specialty of Panasonic but the company is now busy working on the car’s internals. Its first attempt is the Panasonic Autonomous Cabin.
It features a touchscreen that doubles as an interactive table, where the passengers can choose landmarks for the augmented reality windows. The entire thing is packed with personal speakers, a fridge, coffee machine and air purifier.
