[CES2022] Robotics Will Liberate Humanity (Comprehensive)

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun Presents Vision
Returns After 2 Years with 'Spot'
"Expanding Mobility Experience to Metamobility"

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun held a press conference under the theme "Expanding Human Reach" at CES 2022, held on the 4th (local time) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA, where he announced the robotics vision. Chairman Chung appeared on stage with the robot dog Spot to present the robotics vision. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun held a press conference under the theme "Expanding Human Reach" at CES 2022, held on the 4th (local time) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA, and announced the robotics vision. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] "Hyundai Motor's robotics vision will enable humanity's infinite mobility and progress."

Jung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, unveiled the robotics vision under the theme "Expanding Human Reach" at the press conference of CES 2022, the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition, held on the 4th (local time) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA.

At the press conference, Chairman Jung appeared together with Boston Dynamics' robotic dog 'Spot.' When Chairman Jung took the podium and said, "Thank you, Spot, you are a good friend," Spot exited on its own.

Regarding why he chose robotics, not the recently trending eco-friendly cars, as the theme for this CES, Chairman Jung said, "Robotics is ultimately connected to automobiles as well," adding, "Robotics will be widely adopted in the future and is closely related to people's lives, so we introduced our thoughts at CES to be evaluated and to set the direction."

Chairman Jung also said, "Connectivity, that is, connecting people and robots to the metaverse, is an area of interest," and added, "We invest because we want to contribute to human life."

Explaining why he emphasizes robotics as a future growth engine, he said, "Robots are getting closer to humans," and explained, "Just as people carry their phones every day, someday people will carry Spot (the quadruped robot) with them."

The main robotics visions unveiled by Hyundai Motor that day include 'Metamobility,' which innovatively expands the user's mobility experience, the 'Mobility of Things (MoT)' ecosystem where objects are given mobility, and 'intelligent robots' for humans.

Among these, the core of future robotics announced by Chairman Jung is Metamobility, which connects the metaverse (extended virtual world), urban air mobility (UAM), and robotics to the real world, a concept emerging with recent IT developments. Chairman Jung said, "Robots were our dreams and heroes protecting us from alien life forms in cartoons," adding, "But robots are no longer a dream. The time is now."

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun is taking a commemorative photo with Ulrich Oman, Vice President of Microsoft Cloud & AI Division (from left), Song Chang-hyun, President of Hyundai Motor TaaS Headquarters, Mark Raibert, Chairman of Boston Dynamics, and Hyun Dong-jin, Executive Director of Robotics Lab, after the CES 2022 press conference held on the 4th (local time) in Las Vegas, USA.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun is answering questions from the press immediately after a press conference held under the theme "Expanding Human Reach" at CES 2022, which took place on the 4th (local time) at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, USA. Photo by Ki-min Lee victor.lee@

He continued, "The metaverse will soon become an important space for us," emphasizing, "Hyundai Motor will enable humanity's infinite mobility and progress through future mobility solutions expanded by Metamobility."

However, regarding the realization and launch timing of the Metamobility products introduced that day, he said, "I cannot precisely say 'it will take a few years.' As research progresses, an exact timeline will emerge," but added, "Even this requires a lot of technology and there is a long way to go," emphasizing, "There are no limits to our challenges, and we challenge our limits."

Chairman Jung anticipated that once Metamobility is commercialized, it will have a significant impact on production sites such as manufacturing. He said, "Recently, many people are working from home, but in factories, everyone comes out and works on-site," adding, "When automation and robots become the norm, I think the part of automatic control from home will be realized."

He added, "I expect that it will become a reality to inspect production sites and operate machines from home through augmented reality (AR)."

Meanwhile, after Chairman Jung's presentation, Song Chang-hyun, President of Hyundai Motor's TaaS Division, Mark Reibert, Chairman of Boston Dynamics, Hyun Dong-jin, Executive Director of Robotics Lab, and Ulrich Ohmann, Vice President of Microsoft Cloud & AI Division, also explained specific robotics technologies and prospects.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.