At Sony’s big CES 2023 press conference, the Japanese electronics giant introduced a new automotive brand called Afeela and its first prototype vehicle.
Afeela is a semi-autonomous, all-electric vehicle that comes equipped with 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle along with 800 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of computing power from the engine control unit.
The Afeela prototype will include system-on-chips from Qualcomm Technologies’ Snapdragon digital chassis for automated driving, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), human-machine interface and telematics. The automated driving functions will be for Level 3 under limited conditions and will also feature Level 2+ driver assistance for urban driving situations, Sony said.
Additionally, the prototype will collaborate with Epic Games to create new mobility services and entertainment as part of the infotainment portion of the vehicle. Sony is also exploring the possibilities of providing navigation through augmented reality and the metaverse with a new HMI that will be introduced to provide a personalized in-car experience through cloud-service connectivity.
Sony said on stage the first shipment of the cars will be delivered to customers in North America in the spring of 2026. Pre-orders will begin in the first half of 2025.
