At the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda presented a series of mobility concepts that focus on family life. One of the concepts Honda presented is the Ie-Mobi concept. Ie-Mobi is designed to integrate seamlessly into the user’s home, while also taking the concepts of home and family ‘to-go’.

A short animation video by Honda explains the potential uses of the rather funny looking Ie-Mobi. We see an elderly couple drinking tea in their living room. As they sip their tea, they decide to go grocery shopping. Their chairs magically slide into the Ie-Mobi that is attached to their living room. As they enter Ie-Mobi, it disconnects from the house and drives off while the couple continues their tea drinking and chatting as usual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=196&v=wPsMlX0zoi0

The next shot shows a boy doing his homework on his way to school inside the self-driving Ie-Mobi. Finally, the clip shows a father and his son preparing a birthday party on the go. They are seen hanging colorful banners inside Ie-Mobi. As they arrive back home, the now decorated Ie-Mobi reconnects to the house. The vehicle’s doors open and the mother finds her husband and son in a festive Ie-Mobi that now brings a full birthday celebration into their home.

The name ‘Ie-Mobi’ says it all. The Japanese word ‘ie’, meaning ‘home’, combined with ‘mobi’, short for mobile, captures the essence of Ie-Mobi, being able to function as home on the go. The entire range of AI solutions presented by Honda is aimed at improving and increasing family time.

The project’s website says that Ie-Mobi, part of the bigger Honda Family Mobile Concept, is able to “move while living, increasing time with family, and deepening ties”. At nearly 5 square meters of surface area, the uses of Ie-Mobi are plentiful. When connected to the main building of the house, Ie-Mobi functions as an extension of the home or as a room in itself. “Its use is limited only by the imagination: open an impromptu cafe during the weekend, or a soup cafe or curry shop,” says Honda. Honda claims that the concepts will open up new possibilities within family life.