New Honda Concept Car 'NeuV' Will Have Its Own Emotions Thanks To Artificial Intelligence

I'm sure anyone that owns a car will have developed their own special relationship with it, that initial love affair when you buy it, which turns into a marriage as you spend your time together either on your way to work, the shops, visiting friends, or just out driving. It's a happy time, but as we all know this can suddenly turn sour.

When your car refuses to start, emits large amounts of smoke from the exhaust, displays warning lights on the dashboard, or, horror of horrors, it breaks down. Emotions run very high when it doesn't do what it's supposed to do and you sit in the car screaming at it in frustration. We have all shouted at our poor car at some point.

But soon this kind of inappropriate behavior might have to change because cars of the future will have feelings.

At the Consumer Electronics Show which takes place next month (CES is a global consumer electronics and consumer technology tradeshow that takes place every January in Las Vegas, Nevada.) Japanese car maker Honda will unveil a new concept car the NeuV, "an automated EV commuter vehicle equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) that creates new possibilities for human interaction and new value for customers.which will harness "the power of artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data to transform the mobility experience."

That transformation will involve the car being able to understand the driver's emotions and in turn develop emotions of its own. The car, called the NeuV, will have something Honda are calling an "emotion engine" which will "enable machines to artificially generate their own emotions."

It doesn't say exactly how this technology will work but says it's a set of AI technologies developed by cocoro SB Corp. and will enable this automated EV commuter vehicle to create "new possibilities for human interaction and new value for customers."

According to the Washington Post, "Honda expects the car will 'grow up' with its driver and share in his or her experiences, prompting the driver to feel the car 'has become a good partner and thus form a stronger emotional attachment toward it.' (That could complicate matters when it comes time to trade in, but no one ever said breakups are easy.)".

Although Honda state the car will bring new value for customers, there's no indication when the technology will be available in a consumer car—but it all sounds very intriguing indeed.