Sony wants its Afeela EV to be heavy on AI, also shows crossover
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It appears that some rogue Branding Words generator (human or other) has blinded Sony to a deadly boring design, non-competitive features, a price that's way too high and a roll-out date that missed the bus by a couple of years at least.
I saw this presented in a local showroom about a year ago. The nice staff told me it was a year from launch, and I told them that they needed to look for new jobs around 2 months before the thing came out because the effort was doomed.
I saw this presented in a local showroom about a year ago. The nice staff told me it was a year from launch, and I told them that they needed to look for new jobs around 2 months before the thing came out because the effort was doomed.
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At the moment I agree, but in the not-as-distant-as-it-used-to-be future I'll be the age where toddling out to a car and imperiously ordering it to take me someplace and then settling in for a nice nap has enormous appeal.
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Now you are seeing the bigger picture.
1. In 2022, develop a self driving car, so consumers (Drivers) can consume more "entertainment", take away the stress of driving in traffic.
2. Wait a minute, there isn't much traffic because people are working from home. Why spend the money on a self driving car, when driving isn't bad.
3. Start a campaign to convince CEO's that working from home is not productive. Make everyone drive to work again. Traffic bad. Car's will be sold. More "entertainment" consumed.
Sony just has the long view /s.
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Every SONY product I've bought in the past 25 years had excellent quality hardware, excellent performance, excellent durability, and the worst software/firmware of any brand. I don't think adding AI would make things better.
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One of the things people appreciate about rapid mass transit is not having to control the vehicle they are in. This is a much less capital, space and energy efficient version of that.
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jm_leviathan
Ars Scholae Palatinae
I adored Astro Bot and its pack-in predecessor Astro's Playroom (I haven't played the VR game, though if Sony had bothered to update it for PSVR2 I probably would have). But no, they're not on the level of the tentpole Mario games.
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YetAnotherAnonymousAppellation
Ars Praefectus
Sony has been on my "never ever" list ever since they installed a rootkit on my computer when I played one of their CDs. Yes, it was last century, but it cost me a full day to purge my machine at a hectic time in my contract. I have a long and unforgiving memory when it comes to corporate malfeasance that affects me personally.
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It gets worse, per Jalopnik, in a piece of actual journalism, the first year will only be the $102,900 Signature and the $89,000 trim that drops in 2027 is decontented ala Tesla with no rear entertainment system and only comes in black.
At any trim level I still think this is pointless because for that money there's a lot of better competition, unless you must have a built in Play Station , which I would find as welcome as the Microsoft Teams Mercedes builds into some cars. When I drive I listen to music and look at the scenery. Fortunately I spend only a tiny amount of time in traffic jams or on Interstates. I also have no desire to spend a mortgage payment equivalent on a car.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2068359/sony-honda-mobility-alfeela-1-first-production/
At any trim level I still think this is pointless because for that money there's a lot of better competition, unless you must have a built in Play Station , which I would find as welcome as the Microsoft Teams Mercedes builds into some cars. When I drive I listen to music and look at the scenery. Fortunately I spend only a tiny amount of time in traffic jams or on Interstates. I also have no desire to spend a mortgage payment equivalent on a car.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2068359/sony-honda-mobility-alfeela-1-first-production/
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The Afeela page is a mess and I had to resort to Google AI to specifics on the sensor suite
This is still level 2 aka on the same page as Tesla & Rivian today (in the US)
It will interesting to see how this stacks up in a an actual road test
This is still level 2 aka on the same page as Tesla & Rivian today (in the US)
It will interesting to see how this stacks up in a an actual road test
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These would have been amazingly competitive in about 2015. Right now they'll struggle to beat VinFast in total sales unless they decide to lose money on some ridiculous lease deals in California.
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There is an insane number of ads for Afeela on streaming platforms
I hope they did not blow their R&D budget because now they have set a bar that is way beyond Tesla/Rivian/Mercedes/BYD and if they screw up Honda's reputation will take a hit
- Plays emotional/immersive music causing driver to weep
- Tells people outside the car if your wife's birthday so random strangers can walk up and wish her, so you are now off the hook
- This might be useful for Ars to advertise outside the car displaying the Ars logo or Moon Shark as Jonathan does his test drive and is really good/free advertising for a car review than some random private messages
- Tell the car you now wish to take over and drive
- This also happens to be on a winding road on a mountain top. Hmm what about those 40+ sensors ?
- Multitask while the car is driving.
- Fiddling with on screen media
- Looking at text messages on their phone
I hope they did not blow their R&D budget because now they have set a bar that is way beyond Tesla/Rivian/Mercedes/BYD and if they screw up Honda's reputation will take a hit
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Meanwhile in Japan....a few years ago
VP 1: "Toshihiro San, the Americans are now all about DEI. We must pivot quickly to show that we care"
VP 2" Yes, yes, we must show we feel you......I feel you .... I feel ya....... AHA AFEELA"
Chairman: "Arigato"
Sony-Honda-Mobility-Media-Press-Immersion VP: "Launch the Ad's with emotion...Immediately...."
Viewers....rejoice........
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Exactly. For something like a bus or train, great. You can talk to people. Get up and stretch sometimes. Get a snack. Cool. But for a car, which I would bet 90% of the time only has one occupant, you have to just sit there, with the wheel in front of you, probably seeing ads fed in by Sony. In standstill traffic I see the appeal, but Afeela show people enjoying not-driving on beautiful, curving mountain roads. It baffles me.
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Speak for yourself. The drive, even when part of my 15 hours a week involved being stuck in Boston traffic, had always been my favorite part of my work day. I do realize I am part of a microscopic minority though.
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Sony/BMG own the rights to Ozzy’s song
“Going off the rails on a crazy train “
Would not sound good if Afeela went off the mountainside which is why the paid actor in the advertisement took over
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I wouldn't even hope for an S2000 reboot anyway. No matter what, the company would be bogged down with nannies, connectivity, features, and numb driving experience. That goes for pretty much any manufacturer at this point, not just Honda.
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And the advertised range is "Up to 300 miles." Ridiculous for a >$90K car. This thing seems DOA, IMHO.
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It's Sony, so it does, but you have to use a MemoryStick and i-Link cable.
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Everything would be a separate subscription. Accelerator, brakes, screens . . .
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Why would anyone buy this over a Lucid here in the US.....
The Lucid air is a better car in literally every way for the same/lower price... or the gravity if the crossover version is just as expensive...
The Lucid air is a better car in literally every way for the same/lower price... or the gravity if the crossover version is just as expensive...
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Boy, they're really trying to get us to entertain ourselves to death. Play videogames while your car fails to successfully negotiate a traffic situation that kills you or someone else on or near the road.
Fingers crossed hoping they take an approach that's a lot more Waymo than Tesla, but I'm afraid I've lost a lot of the old enthusiasm I once had for fully autonomous vehicles.
Fingers crossed hoping they take an approach that's a lot more Waymo than Tesla, but I'm afraid I've lost a lot of the old enthusiasm I once had for fully autonomous vehicles.
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I usually get annoyed when people disparage cars just because they were intended for a different customer. But I'm struggling to imagine what is the market for a $100K large sedan with middling specs, aggressively boring styling, and a silly brand name with no prestige or heritage. The sensor tumors make it look like a robotaxi prototype. It's baffling. It's hard to image them shifting more than a tiny number of these.
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Every single Sony product I have owned lasted longer than my interest in the item, and I purchase products like tv's once a decade. I have never thrown away a broken Sony product. I was in for this Sony/Honda car collaboration until the topic of AI appeared. No.
Using onboard ML, LLM, NN or other technology combined with an array of sensors to provide assisted driving? Yes. But the rest of the AI suite put into the cockpit to have AI change the music or climate controls by talking to it? No.
Sony and Honda are exceptional companies that have provided superior products for as long as I can remember. This quote provides some hope but it is a very dim hope.
Using onboard ML, LLM, NN or other technology combined with an array of sensors to provide assisted driving? Yes. But the rest of the AI suite put into the cockpit to have AI change the music or climate controls by talking to it? No.
Sony and Honda are exceptional companies that have provided superior products for as long as I can remember. This quote provides some hope but it is a very dim hope.
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The name is just absolutely fucking terrible, isn't it?
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I just hope that, when the experiment with an AI-driven multimedia phantasmagoria on wheels inevitably ends, Honda and/or Sony is able to salvage a modern, high-tech BEV platform that it can use to make regular cars.
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People here are pooh-poohing the name Afeela, but if you stopped a moment to research, you'd find:
Edit:
https://www.namesfolder.com/islamic-girl-name/afeela
Edit:
Another site says:
"Afeela is of Arabic origin and means 'beautiful, attractive'. It is a name often given to baby girls in Islamic cultures, symbolizing their glowing and charming personalities."
https://www.nameslook.com/afeela
"Afeela is of Arabic origin and means 'beautiful, attractive'. It is a name often given to baby girls in Islamic cultures, symbolizing their glowing and charming personalities."
https://www.nameslook.com/afeela
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araczynski
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Fair point, but still, its a generationally limiting reference, and I would venture the generation that is most interested in EV's is still generally not (financially) interested in $100k ones just because it has a theme they might know about...
I remember Astro Bot from the first 3D headset Sony put out (on PS4), it was cute/short, but didn't know of its history before (or since), so also was curious as to why it was anything of note.
Sounds like I should revisit the '24 release (on my PS5 presumably) and see if it convinces me to save $100k for a car.... then again, Sony probably still expects everyone to get a second job to buy anything they squirt out, like back in the days when they were still a top-brand name.
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It's just one of many themes which Ars choice to call out as an example. God of War is another. I don't think it's the thing they're somehow tying the sale of a car to in a huge way, any more than the choice of paint colors. In fact, much less than that, given how many options are likely to be available (or just using a non-game theme).
Complaining about how one particular title passed you by is kind of complaining that every aspect isn't tailored to one specific demographic.
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See also: Cars are freedom.
I mean, yes they are, but in many cases it's a severely-constrained form of freedom.
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As a car owner, if I did not have to drive I would be very happy.
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I'm not going to say I like traffic jams, but with a manual transmission you at least have the optimal speed puttering in first mini game where you try to stay moving at a speed where you don't stall, don't have to stop and start over and over and don't have anyone squeeze in front of you. It's somewhat entertaining.
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That level of electronics and touchscreens, and then AI on top of it all.. its everything I NEVER want in my car. And my last 5 vehicles have been made by Honda (under one label or another)! I'm already irritated enough that when I buy a car these days, I have to spend the first day figuring out privacy settings, submitting do-not-share-my-data requests, CA data deletion requests, etc. etc., without having to deal with this effing nonsense.
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People who work on user interfaces can be either the smartest or dumbest people, depending on how much they let themselves emphasize form over function. Or to put it another way, make a choice because it looks "cool" instead of because it works well.
Reminds me of how so many desktop applications (or even web applications when viewed on desktop) have abolished normal scrollbars and instead use the auto-hiding minimalist scrollnubs from phones. Complete choice of form over function in a place where you can't even argue that it's a good tradeoff.
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Why not just buy an old used vehicle without all the modern stuff that you don't want ?
That level of electronics and touchscreens, and then AI on top of it all.. its everything I NEVER want in my car. And my last 5 vehicles have been made by Honda (under one label or another)! I'm already irritated enough that when I buy a car these days, I have to spend the first day figuring out privacy settings, submitting do-not-share-my-data requests, CA data deletion requests, etc. etc., without having to deal with this effing nonsense.
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