Hyundai Designs Metamobility That Connects Robots To Interact With Humans

Robot Spot, part of Hyundai's designed metamobility. (photo: hyundai robotics)

JAKARTA - Hyundai Motor Co has envisioned an interactive and partially virtual future it calls "metamobility", where robotic devices interact with humans to provide various mobility services. These services range from automated individual transportation to remote control of robots in "smart factories".

Hyundai executives, led by Chief Executive Euisun Chung, outlined the vision at a media briefing at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 4.

Hyundai hopes to leverage its growing expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence to build future mobility networks that connect people in the real world with objects and tasks in the virtual world.

The concept is related to the so-called metaverse, a term coined 30 years ago by writer Neal Stephenson, but only recently gained attention when social media company Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms Inc.

As reported by Reuters, This technology refers to a shared virtual world environment that people can access via the internet, and which can use virtual reality or augmented reality.

Hyundai offers several examples of how to connect the metaverse and the real world:

- Vehicles that can be turned into a workspace or entertainment space that includes a 3D video game platform.

- A "smart" factory where humans outside the factory remotely control robots that interact with machines and products inside the factory.

- Automatic personal transportation for persons with disabilities or individuals who wish to maintain social distancing while traveling.

To make all of this work, the automaker says it is building a Mobility of Things ecosystem that will connect modular robotic platforms to perform different mobility services.

One module called Plug & Drive or PnD is a one-wheel robotics platform that combines intelligent steering, braking, and suspension with electric in-wheel drive, cameras, and lidar sensors for automatic operation.

For larger logistics tasks and other mobility services, Hyundai can incorporate four PnD modules, including one app that pairs with a robot dog called, Spot.