sony's electric car 'vision-S' introduces innovative human-vehicle interface

following sony‘s reveal of new electric car concept ‘vision-S’ at CES 2020, the company now lets us in on the design story of the model’s innovative human-car interface. aiming to give riders an optimal in-vehicle experience, the prototype features a panoramic car screen, digital side mirrors, combined with a set of embedded smart devices, radars, and sensors.

all images courtesy of sony

the UI/UX team at sony developed the panoramic screen as a combination of three displays: a standard instrument panel display for the driver (cluster display), a center display, and a display for the front-seat passenger to manipulate. by dividing it into distinct, adjoining sections, users get a setup conducive to teamwork. what makes the horizontal connection between the driver and the passenger even more flexible is the ‘L-swipe’ gesture functionality: with one quick L-shaped finger movement on the screen, the passenger can send on-screen information over to the next display.

vision-S is designed to be more practical than ever, by employing digital side mirrors, which boast camera and display features. however, the new additions are more than simple substitutes for the norm of glass mirrors. The process of introducing digital mirrors actually has implications for so many other components: they create the need to adjust the positioning of the A-pillar, rethink the cluster display, redraw driver sightline movement, and essentially re-optimize the whole car.

the vehicle’s mirrors are linked up with the radars and sensors that detect the surroundings, making it possible to generate pop-up alerts on the display whenever danger looms – a high-speed approach from the rear or an intrusion from a blind spot, for instance. at night-time and in stormy conditions, when human error is more prone to occur, radars and sensors will serve as a watchful eye, supporting riders’ safety through the display. instead of just replacing glass mirrors with digital mirrors, the team rebuilt the design from the ground up in fine detail to create a true digital-mirror environment.

sony saw the vision-S prototype as an opportunity to spread the car experience beyond the car itself, leveraging the deepening links between mobility and the cloud. the UI/UX team conceived smartphones and other mobile devices as parts of the car itself—and with user accounts on those devices consolidating the relevant information, the mobility experience could take on an even more seamless continuity. in that kind of framework, a user could go through a whole range of remote operations before getting in the car (configuring air-conditioning settings, locking and unlocking the doors, and parking automatically) and stay connected after the drive; imagine playing back dashboard-camera footage on your smartphone or a large screen in your living room with background music, for instance.

project info:

company: sony
model: vison-S

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edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom