Honda announced at the 2019 Asian Consumer Electronics Show (CES Asia 2019) that it will cooperate with Alibaba Group (hereinafter referred to as: Alibaba) and Iflytek Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: HKUST Xunfei) Carry out cooperation and jointly develop the third-generation Honda CONNECT (Intelligent Guidance Interconnection) system. Honda also demonstrated the latest achievements of the open innovation project “Honda Xcelerator” in China, as well as new progress in collaborative innovation in the fields of electrification and sharing.
Hasegawa Yusuke, Executive Deputy General Manager of Honda Technological Industry (China) Investment Co., Ltd. said: In the environment of great changes in mobile travel, Honda is supported by FUNTEC technology, and actively cooperates and develops innovations with more outstanding Chinese companies, so as to better Faster speed and more inspirational creativity, provide customers with fun mobile products and services, and strive to realize FUNTEC WORLD.
Du Haitao, General Manager of Product Operations of Alibaba Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, said: “Tmall Genie fully integrates the AI technology of the artificial intelligence laboratory with the service ecosystem of Alibaba Group. In thousands of service scenarios, easy natural voice interaction always accompanies users. Left and right. Tmall Genie will integrate AI technology services, and together with Honda, provide more people with the joy of expanding the possibility of life.”
Liu Junfeng, general manager of iFLYTEK Smart Car Division, said: “Make the car more connected, become our reliable partner, realize its own growth and evolution, and provide users with fresh experience value, thereby changing the situation of mobile travel. In these points In terms of concept, we are very consistent with Honda, and also very consistent with the development goals of Honda CONNECT. We hope that through our cooperation, we can realize the beautiful vision of making car driving safer, smarter and more fun.”
Accelerated upgrade of Honda CONNECT system
With the rapid development of communication technology, people’s life and travel are about to enter a new era of “Internet of Everything”. In the field of ICV (Intelligent Connected Vehicle) technology, Honda has accelerated the technological upgrade of the Honda CONNECT (Intelligent Connected Vehicle) system through open innovation. The second-generation Honda CONNECT (intelligent guidance interconnection) system has introduced upgraded functions such as intelligent voice recognition, online payment, intelligent navigation, and vehicle location sharing, and plans to carry applications on new products launched this year.
At the same time, Honda is accelerating the pace of open innovation, joining hands with Alibaba and HKUST Xunfei to jointly develop the third-generation Honda CONNECT system with Smart AI and other functions. The third-generation Honda CONNECT system will be introduced into Alibaba’s “Tmall Genie” and iFLYTEK’s intelligent voice recognition technology. Alibaba AI has the industry-leading “Tmall Genie” in terms of AI assistant services. In addition to the seamless interconnection between cars and houses, Honda will also work with Alibaba AI to create a convenient interconnection environment for e-commerce in cars. HKUST Xunfei has the world’s top voice recognition technology, and Honda will cooperate with HKUST Xunfei to create an in-depth dialogue environment between people and vehicles, so as to realize the upgrade of travel services and experience.
In the future, the Honda CONNECT system will continue to evolve. According to Yusuke Hasegawa, Executive Deputy General Manager of Honda Technological Industry (China) Investment Co., Ltd., the future Honda CONNECT system will have “more aspects. Internet”, “more caring assistant”, and “smarter growth”.
“Multi-faceted interconnection” refers to the ability to control and charge the car at any time through the smartphone, which is necessary in daily life. It can also be connected to the residence, control home appliances and connect to home video. It can also realize functions such as in-car shopping and appointment service, which greatly improves the convenience of travel and life.
“More considerate assistant” means that the Honda CONNECT system with artificial intelligence is more humanized and can make car life safer, more convenient and more comfortable. The AI assistant talks to the user, not only can implement the user’s request, but also can deepen the understanding of the user’s own preferences and lifestyle, so as to give appropriate suggestions and solutions. Whether it is a shared car or a self-owned car, AI assistants are our reliable partners, making car life more humanized.
“Smarter growth” refers to the surprise experience that customers can continue to feel the continuous growth of their car after purchasing their car. Through cloud services and OTA (Over The Air) upgrades, more and more new functions and APPs and constantly changing design interfaces are used to continuously provide customers with fresh experiences.
These three features of Honda CONNECT will make the car a reliable partner that exceeds customers’ expectations.
“Honda Xcelerator China” project accelerates open innovation
At last year’s CES Asia, Honda launched the open innovation project “Honda Xcelerator China” with start-up companies. In one year, Honda has contacted hundreds of excellent companies in China through this project, and achieved efficient progress and fruitful results.
Among them, the digital scent technology that Honda cooperates with “Smell Kingdom” can release different scents into the car according to the driving scene and user needs, creating personalized driving pleasure for drivers. The technology debuted at CES Asia last year, and it took only 7 months for it to be put into use in the car sharing service of Ruishida Company funded and participated by Honda in February this year, highlighting the importance of the “Honda Xcelerator China” project as an innovation accelerator. where the value lies.
At this year’s CES Asia 2019 exhibition, Honda showcased the latest achievements of the “Honda Xcelerator China” project. “Regional sound field control technology” is the research and development achievement of “AAC Technology” company participating in the project. This technology realizes the directivity control of the sound in the car through a precise and ingenious speaker array. Through this technology, the occupants of the car can obtain different sound environments without interfering with each other, even in the same vehicle, a more exclusive space can be achieved.
“Medium-free aerial holographic imaging technology” is the research and development achievement of “Yanshi Technology” company. This technology is the application of holographic AR technology and gesture control technology in the car space, realizing a more intelligent and interactive dialogue interface between people and cars.
Electrification and shared travel field, constantly enriching service experience
In the fields of electrification and sharing, Honda’s exploration and construction of “FUNTEC WORLD” is also accelerating. Honda has cooperated with Neusoft Group to develop technologies such as battery management technology and vehicle data cloud management. These technologies were applied to Honda’s first electric vehicle “Concept VE-1” launched last year in China.
Honda also cooperates with Neusoft Ruichi to develop shared travel services. In February of this year, Concept VE-1 was officially put into use in the shared travel service platform “Hydro Krypton Travel” of Ruichida Company, which Honda participated in the capital injection. In the future, Honda will give full play to the advantages of comprehensive products such as automobiles and motorcycles, and carry out shared travel services in all fields.
In addition, Honda Walking Assist (Honda Walking Assist), developed by Honda to help people with walking difficulties improve their rehabilitation ability, has been cooperating with some hospitals and rehabilitation institutions since last year, and is discussing its practical feasibility in China.
In the future, Honda will further accelerate open innovation, cooperate with more excellent partners, and strive to create more new value and fun unique to Honda for users, leading the evolution of mobility and life, and creating a fun-filled “FUNTEC WORLD”.
