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The "AC" in AC Future stands for Amy and Cindy, founder Arthur Qin's two daughters. That's just one of the bits of info I gained at the company's CES event in which we got a first look at the new AC Future Ai-TH transformable home. This is yet another nattily appointed answer to the housing crisis we've seen on the 2025 show floor. It comes in three models: a deliverable pod (Ai-THu), a pullable trailer (Ai-THt) and a road-ready EV RV (Ai-THd). Press and prospective buyers got to tour the EV prototype this week (but we had to take our shoes off first). Amy Skorheim / Engadget Thanks to pull-out sections at the rear and both sides, the bus-sized RV transforms into a 400-square-foot, one bed, one bath apartment, complete with a living room, kitchen with full-sized fridge, two burner induction range and microwave, along with an uncramped stall shower and washer/dryer in the bathroom. The full HVAC system, paired with high-efficiency insulation keeps the unit temperate. All that amounts to one heck of a power draw, which AC Future answers with a roof covered in solar panels. I was told all three models of the Ai-TH can generate around 25 kWh of energy in a day. For reference, the average American house uses around 30 kWh daily. The home can also be plugged in if sunlight isn't enough, and there was talk of wind-generation options for customers in cloudy climates. All models of the Ai-TH will also come equipped with atmospheric water generation that can suck between 13 and 15 gallons of water per day out of thin air. That's much less than the 200 or so gallons American houses use for non-landscaping needs, so the Ai-TH also recycles gray water and, of course, has a holding tank. In theory, these units can act as fully self-sustaining living pods, gathering what's needed from the world around them. Because this is CES 2025, where the unofficial model is "Stick some AI in it!" there's a whole-home proprietary AI assistant called Futura to turn on your lights, manage your resources and handle other management tasks. There was even a demo set up outside the RV letting people "meet" "her." At last years CES, AC Future, barely two years old at the time, showed off the idea for the Ai-TH. The fully equipped prototype we saw was built in collaboration with Hydra, an automotive design and prototyping studio out of Southern California. Models that go into production will have components coming from a huge range of suppliers; I was told there are three partners lined up for the EV motors alone. AC Future says this is aimed at addressing the affordable, sustainable and mobile housing crisis worldwide. And any talk of addressing the housing crisis has to include some discussion of price, unless we're counting on some trickle-down economics-style solutions. The static base model will start at $98,000, the trailer model will go for $138,000 and up and the drivable version starts at $298,000. AC Future's COO told me production would begin as soon as they left Vegas (the whole team was at CES) and reservations are open now. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-ac-future-drivable-self-sustaining-home-transforms-to-be-larger-than-your-first-apartment-193758718.html?src=rss
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While there's plenty of automotive news to go around at CES 2025, far and away, the talk of the show is the Afeela 1. Again. For five years now, Sony has been showing off some variation on this same theme, first as the Vision-S in 2020, then the Vision-S 02, before adopting the unfortunate rebranding to Afeela in 2023, and this year finally to Afeela 1. Along the way, the car lost what little interesting styling it had while sticking true to some specifications that sounded good five years ago. Everything just feels a bit off, not the least of which is its starting price: $89,900. I got a chance to get up close and inside the car, a demo that began with another explanation of what Afeela means. It's a sort of overwrought portmanteau for the words autonomy, augmentation, and affinity. This year's Afeela 1 is little changed from last year's numberless show car. The only significant visual update is found in the sensor pod protruding from the leading edge of the roof. A LiDAR module now stands proud, along with a couple of cameras on either end, staring in opposite directions, chameleon-style. While the bug-eyed look is not particularly charming, it is the only bit of visual character in an otherwise bland design. The lone other external talking point is the display embedded in the leading edge of the hood. This "media bar" is another thing that seemed novel and fun a few years ago on a concept car. There's a noticeable seam where two displays meet on the grille-mounted displays.Tim Stevens for Engadget It's supposed to welcome you to the car or provide messages to those around you. But it's hard to read from afar, and up close you can see the unfortunate seam down the middle where two panels were somewhat crudely joined together to form the thing. To open the driver's door, you either tap a button in the app or press a small button embedded in the pillar. There are no door handles to pull, not even a token fin like on the Ford Mustang Mach-E. I couldn't help asking what do you do if you park in an ice storm and the door is frozen shut. I wasn't given much of an answer. Those doors open to a space that's every bit as understated as the exterior except for one thing: the dashboard-spanning display. It's vibrant and clear and about the only thing in here that reminded me that this is a Sony product. Well, that and the DualSense controller that you can pair to the car and then fire up PS Remote Play while you charge. And you'll need something to do because the maximum charge rate of the Afeela 1 is 150 kW for its 91 kWh battery, which provides an estimated 300 miles of range. Compare that to a cheaper Lucid Air, which can charge twice as quickly and cover over 400 miles on a charge, and you begin to see the real problem with this thing. That display plus the ambient lighting within the car are all comprehensively customizable, with the same sorts of themes available on the PS5. I sampled the Ghost of Tsushima and Fortnite themes, each of which splayed the interior in the proper series of colors, adding a splash of personality to the otherwise vanilla surfaces. Tim Stevens for Engadget That big display is the major talking point, but look a little lower and you'll spot the world's largest volume knob situated between the seats. It's bigger than the iDrive knob on most modern BMWs, yet only controls the output of the 28-speaker, Dolby Atmos-enabled sound system. The software interface, meanwhile, looked largely unfinished, little more than a two-row grid of oversized boxes representing apps, settings and car controls. Given the width of the display, vital controls can easily stretch beyond the driver's reach, leaving you to drag the whole array back to the left to get what you need. After so many years of seeing what Sony's first car would really look like, I couldn't help feeling disappointed when I climbed out. But not nearly as disappointed as I was when looking down the spec sheet again. There are two trims of Afeela 1, the $89,900 Afeela 1 Origin and $102,900 Signature. The latter has larger wheels (21-inch vs. 19), a rear-seat entertainment system (displays embedded in the headrests plus an HDMI input) and additional cameras. The Origin, meanwhile, is only available in black. Seriously. Tim Stevens for Engadget Why Sony would even think about launching a $90,000 car that is only available in black is beyond me. Spend the $13,000 more for the Signature model, and you still only get three forgettable shades: white, gray and black again. In the Origin we have a car that costs $20,000 more than a Lucid Air Pure but has considerably less range and slower charging speed. Go for the $102,900 Afeela 1 Signature trim, and you're now spending more than a Porsche Taycan, which admittedly has less range but looks far better and will almost assuredly be the more engaging drive. Five years ago, Sony's vehicular aspirations made for an odd but intriguing project. Now, it all just seems misguided. How will it feel in another 12 months when the first cars start rolling off from Honda's Ohio factory? That's anyone's guess, but I can't imagine tomorrow's market will look any more kindly upon this vehicular curiosity.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/sonys-afeela-1-feels-like-a-playstation-4-in-the-ps5-era-184620132.html?src=rss
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If theres one thing that sucks the fun out of darts, its the mandatory math you have to do in order to work out how well youre doing. Thats the malady British manufacturer Target Darts, making its first trip to CES, is solving with its Omni automatic scoring system, saving your beer-drenched brain. Omni is a halo that magnetically attaches to a compatible board, equipped with four 1080p cameras and an LED light strip. When you throw your darts, the system uses computer vision to identify where they ended up on the board. From there, the scores will be represented on a nearby computer or tablet, and can even be output to a big TV in the vicinity. Even better, is that you wont just have your score tracked, but youll hear a pre-recorded voice telling you how many points you need to score on your next throw, just as you see in a professional match. Omni isnt out just yet, but when it launches, players will be able to use it in conjunction with Target Darts' existing Virt camera. Thats a pair of webcams one facing the board, one facing the player that enables darts fans to play against real people online either with friends, or with similarly-ranked strangers. During the various shelter-in-place orders in force during the COVID pandemic, the UK's professional darts league actually operated like this for several months. Amusingly one star player, Gary Anderson, was unable to take part in a tournament because his home Wi-Fi wasn't fast enough to keep up. Target Darts Omni scoring system will start shipping on January 31, and in the UK is priced at 449.95 (around $556). If youd like to pick up a model in the US, youll have to find a reseller, a list of which is available on the companys website.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/target-darts-is-bringing-tech-smarts-to-the-game-183015898.html?src=rss
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