Although these days we are talking about Apple’s plans to create its autonomous car, we must not forget Vision-S, Sony’s bet in this field. And is that yes The Japanese multinational announced for the first time that it was working on its own autonomous vehicle A year ago now, at CES 2020, just a year later, at CES 2021, we received a substantial update on the project, which shows us that they are taking it very seriously.
They are not a surprise, yes, the latest news about him Vision-S, an electric vehicle with autonomous driving technology. In the middle of last year, Sony announced that His plans were to carry out the first tests of his prototype on public roads before the end of the year, and today we have had confirmation that it really has been, since before entering 2021 the Vision-S began to roll on European roads.
Specifically, and as seen in Sony’s presentation at CES 2021, the car has been driven on Austrian roads, more specifically on a winding road surrounded by snow (in case we had seen little in recent days). And we have not known it from a few words, a press release or a photograph, no, Sony posted a video in which we can see the Vision-S touring that picturesque environment.
We do not know how long Sony has actually been working on Vision-S, but what is unquestionable is that their work is progressing at a great speed, well above the case of Apple, which I mentioned earlier, so it can be imagined that, either independently or in collaboration with a manufacturer in the sector of the engine, let’s not take too long (although it is measured in years, I am not talking about months) in which the Sony seal becomes present in the field of autonomous vehicles.
In the video, as you can see, there is always a driver at the wheel and, what’s more, his hands always remain holding it. And this is normal, since when Sony first talked about the Vision-S, a year ago, indicated they had level 2 autonomous driving capabilities, that is to say, partial autonomy, that is to say, that the systems can take control of acceleration, direction and braking but for a short time, and that the driver must always remain attentive to take control if necessary.
We do not know if this year Sony has managed to scale its technological development to level 3, since it has not been informed about it. Obviously it has not reached level 4, because in that case they would have shared images of the Vision-S driving without a driver. However, it will be very interesting to know, if the technology company reports on it, at what stage its prototype is in this regard, and if therefore we can expect any surprises throughout 2021.
More information: Official Web
