Artificial intelligence is already present in automobiles, such as CarPlay or Android Auto, giving access to assistants interacting with the driver (Siri, Google Now). Motorcycles are neglected in this regard, but the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki seems to have taken the bull by the horns.
And why couldn’t motorcycles be equipped with artificial intelligence like cars? It seems that the Kawasaki firm asked itself this question before having had the idea of developing its artificial intelligence system intended for motorcycles, called Kanjo Engine (kanjo = feeling in Japanese).
Future Kawasaki motorcycles could therefore have the ability to converse with the pilot, but would go even further by adapting to the needs and level of piloting of the latter. the Kanto Engine would work with the electronics of the vehicle while the digital data could be hosted on a Cloud provided for this purpose.
The concept Kanto Engine is actually derived from another concept known as the Emotion Engine, developed by Cocoro SB, a subsidiary of the Japanese firm Softbank, the third largest public company in Japan. Remember, Softbank had partnered with the French start-up Aldebaran Robotics to design Pepper, which is presented as the first robot in the world to be able to understand human emotions.
But what about Kanto Engine for motorcycles? Although this device is still in development, it is possible to guess what it could be used for. For example, the system could warn the pilot of dangers present on his route, as well as communicate on possible speeding, activate the brakes autonomously, or even force a pilot to stop his journey due to fatigue.
Motorcycles (and bikers) have always been considered very dangerous elements of traffic, which is obviously not the opinion shared by the latter. But for the sake of easing tensions on the road, why not. To be continued !
Sources: Moto Services – Humanoids – UberGizmo
Image credit: Motocycle.com