Honda has unveiled its Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem concept at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, connecting the power of artificial intelligence, robotics and big data to transform the mobility experience of the future and improve customers’ quality of life. Featuring a number of prototype and concept technology demonstrations at CES, the Honda concept envisions a future where vehicles will communicate with each other and infrastructure to mitigate traffic congestion and eliminate traffic fatalities, while increasing the productivity of road users and delivering new types of in-vehicle entertainment experiences. Vehicles will create new value by providing services autonomously when not in use by their owners.

Supporting its ‘Cooperative Mobility Ecosystem’ theme, Honda unveiled the Honda NeuV, an electric automated concept car equipped with an artificial intelligence ’emotion engine’ and automated personal assistant, creating new possibilities for human interaction and new value for customers.

Its genesis is based on the fact that privately-owned vehicles sit idle 96 percent of the time. The NeuV explores the idea of how to create new value for its owner by functioning as an automated ride sharing vehicle, picking up and dropping off customers at local destinations when the owner is not using the car. The NeuV also can sell energy back to the electric grid during times of high demand when it’s not in use. These activities have the potential to create a new business model for enterprising customers.

The global mobility company also revealed the Honda Moto Riding Assist, a concept motorcycle that applies Honda’s robotics technology to maintain balance. Rather than relying on gyroscopes, which add a great deal of weight and alter the riding experience as announced by other companies, the Honda Moto Riding Assist incorporates technology originally developed for the company’s UNI-CUB personal mobility device.

At CES, Honda launched its “Safe Swarm” concept, which uses bio-mimicry – replicating the behavior of a school of fish – to create a safer, more efficient and enjoyable driving experience. The Honda Safe Swarm demonstration immerses visitors in a world where vehicles sharing the road communicate with one another using dedicated short range communication (DSRC) to support the driver in negotiating complex driving situations. The Safe Swarm concept enables vehicles to operate cooperatively, enabling more efficient, low-stress and, ultimately, collision-free mobility.

The Honda UNI-CUB exhibit enables CES attendees to experience a self-balancing personal mobility device that allows the seated rider to control speed, move in any direction and stop, all by simply shifting their body weight. Earlier this year, the company opened the UNI-CUB’s API, seeking to facilitate the creation of software that can control the device from a smartphone and other devices, which would provide the potential to expand its value and functionality for people. With the ability to freely move forward, backward, side-to-side and diagonally, UNI-CUB can quickly and easily manoeuvre among people.