"Move things beyond imagination," so says Hyundai amid its CES 2022 Press Conference. In the background plays a teaser of the future, with mother shuttles, personal mobility units, and advanced hospitalization technologies.
Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai, asks: "Who can ever forget C3PO and R2D2 from Star Wars?" Hyundai intends to expand upon robotics development alongside various technological advancements as a smart mobility provider. Through robotic integrations, Hyundai, with the help of Boston Dynamics, intends on innovating mobility and enhancing the options of the consumer movement.
Hyundai coins this endeavor as the "Unlimited mobility of things." New connections can be made and broadened via virtual worlds and robotics. Hyundai thus highlights the combination of physical and virtual movement as "meta mobility."
Marc Raibert of Boston Dynamics discusses how the company's acquisition under Hyundai will improve upon integration into the future, the main among them being "Stretch," a production line robotic concept. Mobile robotics is a future made more viable by Boston Dynamics thanks to the help of Hyundai, with both coming together to enhance productivity on a number of levels.
Athletic intelligence is a point of major importance for Boston Dynamics, allowing robots to go where humans cannot, such as Chernobyl. A Spot robot currently assists in imaging and exploring the destroyed plant and only highlights how these advanced robotics can be utilized further into the future.
Boston Dynamics is also exploring wearable robots, otherwise known as "exoskeletons," for varied use cases, whether they be labor or healthcare purposes. Raibert explains the future of robotics as lying in them slowly becoming everyday companions.
Hyundai wants to make this a reality via various technologies, such as the plug-and- drive module, a compact platform on wheels. The PAD will be a forward focusing piece of tech seamlessly conveyed as furniture and more, allowing a ton of versatility in a number of industries, from transportation services to interior design configurations.
The PAD is only the first step in Hyundai's "unlimited mobility of things" initiative.
Hyundai also sets sights on the metaverse. The company sees mobility devices evolving into smart technology, allowing "mobility as a an access platform," and giving unlimited potential in the form of more realized digital access. This can be seen best in how Hyundai's further implementation of wearable technologies in combination with VR goggles will give consumers literal closeness to the digital world. Smart technologies will broaden the way we interact with the metaverse, so posits Hyundai.
Metaverse can be viewed as the third living space. "Metaverse will expand the world," says Chung.
Microsoft aids in Hyundai and Boston Dynamics' endeavors via cloud infrastructure integrations. The technology will bring smart factories into a digitized space, giving workers efficient ways to work alongside robotics and, in the future, immersive interactions via metaverse applications.
