Sony built a car — a concept to show off company’s sensors, infotainment

The car industry has loads of electronics suppliers that create everything from screens to sensors. And it’s a sector that’s becoming bigger and more important in today’s age of sophisticated driver assists and infotainment systems. One of those suppliers is Sony, and to show off what it can do with automotive components, it built itself its own concept car called the Vision-S.

The car itself is handsome if generic. It looks like a blend of the Porsche Taycan and the Lucid Air. And like those cars, it uses an electric powertrain, though Sony didn’t disclose the specifications on that.

That’s understandable, because the real showpieces of the Vision-S are the sensors and infotainment equipment. The car has a total of 33 sensors inside and out, including CMOS camera imaging, solid state lidar and radar. Sony also noted during the press conference that its CMOS sensors are already in use on several Lexus and Toyota models. These sensors relay information to a computer that processes it to locate objects and help guide the car on the road.

Inside, Sony uses a time-of-flight sensor, which is a kind of lidar, for monitoring occupants. The obvious use for this would be driver head tracking to ensure they’re paying attention to the road. But Sony also notes it can be used to recognize occupants and provide customized infotainment settings.

On the topic of infotainment, the Vision-S has an enormous widescreen display across the dash, not unlike that of the Byton M-Byte and Honda E, that provides instrumentation and infotainment. Sony included a high-end sound system with speakers in every seating position to provide a surround sound experience for every passenger. One thing Sony didn’t add was a PlayStation, which means you can’t drive cars in Gran Turismo while you’re in your potentially autonomous car.

While this concept car is intriguing because of the company that built it, don’t expect to order up a car from Sony anytime soon. This is simply a showcase of what Sony could do for other automakers. So rather than a full Sony car, you may be able to get a Toyota or Ford with fancy Sony audio and high-tech driver assist sensors in the near future.