Sony Drives Its First Electric Car Using PlayStation 5 Controller

We've seen many great announcements from CES 2024 these last couple of days, but none were as grand as Sony's Afeela EV appearing on the stage driven by Izumi Kawanishi, president of Sony Honda Mobility, using PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.

A year ago, Sony and Honda managed a similar feat: the prototype car was driven onto the stage, just without help from a console controller, which is much less impressive if you ask me. Naturally, you wouldn't drive your car with a gamepad (I hope) and I have my doubts about Kawanishi actually controlling the vehicle in a room full of people, but it's still a memorable presentation.

Afeela'd display is powered by Unreal Engine 5.3 to provide you with 3D maps and AR views. As noted by CNET, you can enjoy Sony's various entertainment options like movies and games. The car's multi-camera driver assistance systems also use Unreal Engine for training on its simulated environments. 

Sony Honda Mobility also announced its partnership with Microsoft to bring Azure AI cloud computing to Afeela's development. But that's not all: the company is also collaborating with Polyphony Digital, the developer of Gran Turismo, "with the aim of creating new value with partners by sharing vehicle information." Together, they want to create vehicles that "fuse the virtual and the real, mainly in the area of human senses and emotions by combining Polyphony Digital's simulation technology with the development of actual vehicles by SHM."

Moreover, Afeela Prototype 2024 will be included in a patch update for Gran Turismo 7 later this year, so get ready to drive it in-game before the actual car's release, the date for which is still unknown.

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