Hyundai’s CES 2022 is filled with concepts and cool ideas, centred around the idea of “metamobility”. That is, when the metaverse meets the real world through robotics and mobility.
Most of what Hyundai has shown on this front has been concept ideas, with a focus on technology overcoming limitations and expanding reach.
This year, Hyundai had a focus on the “Mobility of Things”, a concept that gives inanimate objects the ability to move through Hyundai’s robotics technology. Quick reminder for everyone at home, Hyundai owns Boston Dynamics, the company behind Spot the Dog.
Adding to the Mobility of Things concept, Hyundai also revealed a “Plug and Drive” (PnD) concept, which provides all-in-one mobility for short distances. It comes down to a PnD module, which gives small objects and community spaces the ability to transform at the touch of a few buttons.
Again, I’m holding up the “This is a concept” sign, so it’ll still be a few years before Hyundai will be able to proactively bring this to market. That being said, it’s very cool and could definitely make life easier for some of us.
One of the concepts shown of this looked like charging modules for tiny Smart Cars, with a bit of a Hyundai twist.
“We envision future mobility solutions made possible by advanced robotics — even expanding our mobility solutions to Metamobility,” says Euisun Chung, executive chair of Hyundai.
“This vision will enable unlimited freedom of movement and progress for humanity.”
So, to summarise, Hyundai wants to bring the freedom of the metaverse, the ability to move things around easily and the ability to make the world easier around human centred design to the real world. How is it showing this off? Roblox, baby!
If you want to visit the Hyundai Mobility Adventure, you can find it freely on Roblox. Does it have much to show for itself, other than being a big ad for Hyundai cars and products? No, it’s Roblox. That being said, Roblox is one of the more serious contenders at the moment for “most metaverse”, so to see Hyundai jump on board with them is pretty cool.
Another way Hyundai is showing it off is with this Mars concept, involving putting Spot the Dog on the red planet so people can metaverse themselves over to check it out. Currently, this idea is a bit ridiculous. Never mind the fact that Spot the Dog is probably a bit unprepared for life on Mars, but using Spot for metaverse streaming from a different planet is… Out of this world.
Anyway, that’s about it from Hyundai until they announce their next line of cars.