Honda To Showcase New Safety Tech And Innovative Wireless Charging System At CES

Honda is returning to CES with an assortment of technologies that could eventually find their way into your next vehicle.

Kicking things off is Safe Swarm technology which draws inspiration from nature as large groups of fish and birds can travel together without hitting one another. The system relies on Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) technology to communicate a car’s location and speed with surrounding vehicles. Honda says this information allows drivers and autonomous vehicles to “determine the safest course of action in merging with traffic or avoiding a road hazard.”

The technology isn’t just about improving safety as it also aims to keep traffic moving. As an example, Honda says the system could tell drivers to change lanes if the lane ahead is blocked by an accident or a broken down vehicle.

Besides the Safe Swarm technology, Honda will unveil its new Wireless Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) bi-directional energy management system. As the name suggests, it’s a wireless charging system for electric vehicles. However, unlike conventional systems which simply supply power to the vehicle, the V2G system can also transfer power from the vehicle back to the electric grid.

Honda will also showcase several infotainment features such as Honda Dream Drive: Driver. While the name isn’t very good, the technology allows drivers to make restaurant reservations and pay for fuel and parking from their vehicle. It’s a bit like GM’s Marketplace app which allows customers to make reservations at TGI Fridays, place an order for Starbucks and pay for gas at Shell and ExxonMobil stations.

There will also be a Honda Dream Drive: Passenger system which links to smartphones used by passengers. Honda says this will enable them to play mixed reality games, watch movies and control the radio with a few taps on their device.

Honda will also display Noveto’s Smart Audio technology which sends audio signals to a driver’s right or left ear. This could be used to warn drivers about a car reversing into their path on the right side by sending an audio signal to their right ear. In effect, it’s a natural way to get drivers to look to the right or left using targeted audio signals.

Honda and Perceptive Automata will also show a system designed to determine the awareness and intentions of pedestrians and cyclists. The technology promises to make autonomous vehicles safer as it will anticipate the actions of people.

In other news, Honda will showcase the P.A.T.H. (Predicting Action of the Human) Bot which uses artificial intelligence, sensors and a camera to move around public places without interfering with people. The company will also display the Autonomous Work Vehicle ATV prototype (formerly known as the 3E-D18) and an Omni Traction Drive System which enables robots to be highly maneuverable.