Sony teases PlayStation 5 and prototype autonomous car

Sony has unveiled a concept autonomous car as it anticipates the rise of an “autonomous driving society”.

The technology firm said the concept vehicle was designed to show its efforts to combine safety, reliability, comfort and entertainment.

The prototype, called Vision-S, houses 33 sensors on and in the car to help monitor its surroundings and those inside it.

It also includes Sony’s artificial intelligence technology to detect and recognise people, as well as the firm’s 360 Reality Audio for in-car audio.

As well as high-profile automotive firms such as Ford, Audi and BMW, a number of other technology companies have started exploring the development of autonomous vehicles, with the technology expected to become more mainstream in the next decade.

Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida said: “It’s not an exaggeration to say that mobile has been the mega-trend of the last decade. I believe the next mega-trend will be mobility.

“Sony will continue to evolve as a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology.”

Sony also announced a new range of televisions capable of identifying furniture and other items in a living room which can affect TV sound and picture.

The Japanese tech giant has created a feature called Ambient Optimisation, which automatically adjusts the picture brightness based on ambient light in a room.

The feature can even detect furniture and other objects in a room which can absorb or reflect sound and tune the audio settings accordingly.

The new TV range includes a number of 4K and 8K resolution TVs with both OLED and LED displays.

Making its latest gadget announcements at an event ahead of CES in Las Vegas, the technology giant also teased more information about its upcoming PlayStation 5 console.

PlayStation boss Jim Ryan revealed the console’s logo for the first time and promised that the console, which is due to launch in time for Christmas this year, will help shape the “future of gaming”.

“Our promise to the 100 million strong PlayStation® community is to offer the biggest and best in content, and to deliver unique experiences to gamers with unprecedented speed,” he said.

That console will face stiff competition from Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Series X, which is also due to be released at the end of this year.