How many years will the autonomous driving society be realized?The Road to Connected Cars Shown by Telecommunications Carriers ｜ @DIME At Dime

■ Serialization / Smartphone conference of Takayuki Horin, Atsushi Ishikawa, Junya Ishino, Asako Fusano

"Smartphone talk" that you can understand the back side of the industry by four people who are interviewing at the forefront of the smartphone industry. This time, we will discuss the evolution of the EV industry, which has a strong relationship with the telecommunications industry.

* We are taking measures to spread the infection of the new coronavirus.

Sony is considering entering EV in earnest! Is there a chance?

Mr. Fusano: It is said that Sony will launch "Sony Mobility" and make a full-scale entry into EV. Can you tell us the details?

Sony "VISION-S 01"

Sony "VISION-S 02"

Mr. Fusano

[Reference] Sony Group Portal ｜ VISION-S

Mr. Ishikawa: It became clear at CES (a home appliance trade fair held in the United States) that Sony is finally getting serious. Originally, at the stage of December 2021, I heard a story with implications from Sony officials, so when I opened the lid, it was an EV.

At the time of CES two years ago, I had the impression that the business model of wanting to sell sensors was changing to the direction of doing it ourselves. It's the stage of creating a new company and making a full-scale study. It's a step forward, but if Sony really makes a car, it's probably 100%.

At this point, there is still a gap between Sony and the car makers, so we have to wait for a few more years. What's interesting is that Sony is one of the industry groups called "5GAA" that uses 5G to communicate with each other, as well as Apple. While there are various rumors, Apple is also sticking one foot, so keep an eye on future trends.

Sony "VISION-S 02"

Sony "VISION-S 02"

Mr. Ishikawa

Mr. Horin: It was quite a while ago, but when I went to Shenzhen, China, there were a lot of EV cars from car makers that we didn't know much about, and I felt it was amazing.

Mr. Horin

Mr. Ishikawa: Perhaps the theme should be "connected car" instead of EV.

Mr. Horin: However, I don't think the story will proceed unless the standard is EV. When EV came out, there was a talk that "because it becomes a part, anyone can make it", but when thinking about what to do with EV, a connected car comes out. Then, of course, the trend that companies that are strong in electricity will emerge will be the same in Japan, China, and overseas.

However, as Mr. Ishikawa said, there is a difference in direction, and when many manufacturers are heading in the same direction, it will be a problem if "we do not matter", so Apple may be working on it. Realistically, there are a number of hurdles to selling as a car. There are still issues such as safety issues, body and sales channels, but it is possible that a completely different market will be formed in 10 years.

To put it the other way around, there are of course people like me who want to ride an engine car. Since each person is different, the question is how much room is left. As for the mobile industry, it's about communication, so of course it's involved, but I have the impression that it's aimed at "in-car entertainment."

Ishikawa: That's right. For example, if a car is semi-automated, it may not be necessary for the driver to look forward on the highway. If it's okay to play a movie in the car navigation system, you may be able to watch a movie in the driver's seat in two hours on the highway. If so, there will be talk of wanting to hear with better sound and see with higher image quality, so I think there is room for Sony to enter. Even if it is difficult to fully automate, there will be so many opportunities just by becoming semi-automated, and when the structure of the car becomes simple with EV, it will be talked about software, so the company that can make software will become stronger. maybe.

Sony "VISION-S 01"

Mr. Ishino: When Sony is said to be strong in software, I feel a little uneasy, but ... (laughs)

Mr. Ishino

Mr. Ishikawa: It may be difficult for Sony alone, but I think it would be interesting if PlayStation were involved. If you have various car driving data like "Gran Turismo", you can get a Ferrari-like driving experience by putting a Ferrari-like package in Sony's "VISION-S". I think it's quite difficult, but isn't it interesting that this kind of imagination spreads?

Sony "VISION-S 01"

Mr. Horin: There is a lot of wishful thinking by Mr. Ishikawa (laughs).

Mr. Ishino: But it's true that PlayStation seems to have succeeded in software, but I have the impression that Sony and PlayStation are slightly separated. For a while, Sony called it "One Sony" and indicated a policy of strengthening cooperation between each business, but in recent years, the sense of unity has become so strong that it is not necessary to bother to say "One Sony". On the other hand, only PlayStation is not so good, it's still an image of "Two Sony".

Mr. Horin: Computers in the automobile industry are embedded, so versatile software was weak. For example, car navigation and communication were not possible at the beginning, and it took time for functions like tethering as it is now. The car itself has a built-in computer, but overall it was slow to parse, so it would be nice to accelerate with a connected car. However, it is doubtful that car makers can keep up with the evolutionary speed of computer software, and there are still many old-fashioned media that convey this to users. There is a possibility, but it's time for the industry to make a big difference.

Autonomous driving has a lot of challenges !? Services that can be used by general users are also appearing one after another!

Mr. Fusano: What is the definition of a connected car from a mobile perspective?

Mr. Ishikawa: The expression "connected via the Internet" is quite broad.

Mr. Horin: That's right. For example, some people call a connected car a call from an insurance company when a car collides. However, some people can't call it a connected car unless it's what Tesla is doing. It's a word with a fairly wide range.

Mr. Fusano: What is your image of the most cutting-edge connected car?

Mr. Horin: After all, isn't it automatic driving?

Mr. Ishino: It's like communicating between vehicles and sending and receiving vehicle signals, like the "Cellular V2X" aimed at realizing an autonomous driving society. These are the connected cars that Qualcomm and telecommunications carriers originally envisioned, but despite the fact that they have been said for a long time, they have hardly been realized yet.

Mr. Horin: If there is a possibility that it will come first, I think that it is not a car that ordinary people ride, but something like a patrol bus that each company is doing, a truck that runs between bases, and so on. It's hard for drivers every time, so trying to do it remotely is starting to be put in place, including the license system, so I think it will come out soon.

After that, for example, when Mr. Ishino sends his child to school, or when he goes to work, the car will automatically pick you up, or if you register the time to go home, the car will run right there. There is a world that is coming.

Mr. Ishino: That's good.

Mr. Horin: Right? But there are considerable barriers to achieving this. When the car picks up Mr. Ishino, it is possible that he returned because the garbage truck was working in front of the office. It's not easy because we have to change everything, but the idea is to change the relationship between cars as well as cars and networks, and cars and owners by communicating.

However, this is a previous story, and our lives have not changed yet.

Mr. Ishikawa: The point is that the road on which people walk and the road on which cars run must be completely separated. Toyota's "Woven City" is doing this experimentally. Also, the other day, KDDI and Taisei announced that in order to drive an autonomous car in Nishi-Shinjuku, GPS does not reach inside the tunnel, so paint the wall and use a LiDAR scanner to locate it. It is a mechanism to identify. It is necessary to change the city planning one by one in this way, so it feels like a future story.

However, if we semi-automate the expressway alone, the feeling of fatigue when driving will change considerably, and I would like you to proceed there. However, automobile manufacturers are not so close to each other, and there is a temperature difference between the telecommunications industry and the automobile industry. At CES, Qualcomm announced that it would build a platform, but Qualcomm has a small presence in the car world, despite making annual car-related announcements. I know what I want to do, but I feel that the groove is not filled easily. ..

Mr. Ishino: For the time being, Qualcomm's technology has been adopted in cockpits and other places. It's still in the experimental stage.

Mr. Horin: Another difficult factor is that there are many computers that are handled in the car, but for consumers, the most familiar car navigation system is not the in-vehicle type but the smartphone. The reason is simple: the map is updated. Now, even if I buy a new car, it will update the map of the genuine navigation system for about 5 years, but that's about it. It's all about software, but the challenges are still big. First of all, if we do not create an environment in which the car navigation system is always connected to the smartphone in the selling price of the car, it will not penetrate as a consumer.

However, in the old days, the meter was an analog needle, but now it is a digital panel, and there is no side mirror, but the surrounding images are reflected on the screen, and new technologies are being implemented more and more. Nissan's "Intelligent His Around View Monitor" is equipped with a lot of cameras so that you can see the surroundings. Some models make a sound when the car is about to hit when parking, but from the customer's point of view, I want to quickly check the condition of my car on the screen. This is still a long way off, so there are many parts that need to be changed.

Honda "e" side camera mirror system

Mr. Ishino: That's right. So, if anything, I think that the patrol bus, as Mr. Horin mentioned earlier, is more powerful as a part that general consumers can experience.

Communication carriers are also trying to incorporate these areas, and KDDI has started a flat-rate unlimited ride service "mobi" in the area. Wasn't that automatic driving?

KDDI "mobi"

Mr. Horin: I don't drive automatically.

Mr. Ishikawa: People are driving, but the content is that AI is used to select routes.

Mr. Horin: I think "mobi" is likely to become a service that makes use of the knowledge of telecommunications carriers.

Mr. Ishikawa: The on-demand vehicle dispatch service demonstration experiment conducted by DoCoMo and Nissan in Yokohama in 2021 was autonomous driving. There is a person in the driver's seat, but the steering wheel seems to move without touching it. If you use it in a limited area, people who are called shopping refugees will be able to easily go shopping or go to the hospital, so I think there is a possibility.

Mr. Horin: This service aims at a short distance, such as when a general user rides a car and travels by bicycle. "Mobi" is not on-demand, but it runs a minivan in a patrol form, so the approach is to ride for a fixed amount. Since it is not a complete route bus, it is necessary to select a route to take, so AI is used. If au users, about 30% to 40% of the total, use it when mapping data such as where, how, and when they are moving, they can understand where people gather in the time zone and how to handle it. You can decide where people get on and off. We will start a service using this in Toshima Ward in 2022, and we will also tune the area in Kyotango City and Shibuya Ward, which have provided services so far.

One of the strengths of telecommunications carriers is that they have information on the location of people and where they move, so there may be an idea to link that to car services.

Mr. Ishino: It's like data that isn't just used to curb the flow of people.

Mr. Ishikawa: For example, if you know that an event is being held at Tokyo Dome, you can say that if you arrange a lot of taxis by the end, everyone will be happy. However, DoCoMo's AI taxi service will end, so it may not always be working.

Mr. Horin: Right now, in the situation of Korona-ka, the flow of people is completely different from normal, so there is talk about how far we will do it, but when considering excluding Corona, the location information of communication carriers and the flow of people I think that the data of is quite potential.

Mr. Fusano: Do ​​you have similar services overseas?

Mr. Ishikawa: In the United States, "Uber" delivers by car, and in Europe, "HAILO" was there a long time ago, so it's always ahead of the game. When I tried to provide such a service in Japan, there was a backlash from taxi companies, and delivery delivery staff became widespread before I knew it.

Mr. Horin: By the way, there are many taxi apps these days, but this has the advantage of collecting information on where users want to ride. In the past, things that relied on the driver's experience and intuition can be converted into data, so some vendors do not charge a pick-up fee. The extent to which the taxi industry relies on it is subtle, but non-contact is becoming commonplace in taxi payment services, and the app allows you to get the location information of the person who started it. This is also one of the introductions to IT in the automobile industry.

……Continue!

Next time, we are planning to have a meeting about DoCoMo Denki. Please stay tuned.

Takayuki Horin writes review articles for digital-related products such as smartphones, mobile phones, and personal computers, and commentary articles for beginners, focusing on Web media and magazines. He has written many books such as manuals. Opinion number of the mobile industry.

Atsushi Ishikawa After joining Nikkei Home Publishing Co., Ltd. (currently Nikkei BP), he became independent in 2003. He covers not only domestic carriers and manufacturers, but also Google and Apple. He appeared as a lecturer on NHK E-Tele "Hobby Doki! My First Smartphone". He is publishing an e-mail magazine "Smartphone Industry Newspaper (540 yen per month)".

Junya Ishino Joined Takarajimasha after graduating from Keio University. After becoming independent, he has been active in a wide range of media as a mobile journalist / writer. He has authored numerous books such as "Keitai Children" (Softbank new book) and "Easy to understand in one hour" (Mainichi Shimbun).

After being involved in editing mobile phone magazines at Asako Fusano Publishing, she became independent as a freelance writer from 2002. As one of the few female writers in the mobile industry, she writes in magazines and web media, focusing on introducing mobile devices from a female perspective.

Composition / Mikihiro Nakama / Fumihiko Sato