Safety Concerns Rise Over Huawei S9's Zero-Gravity Seat Anti-Pinch Feature Amid Limitations in Child Detection and Voice Control

Recently, a video featuring the Harmony Intelligent Mobility (HIMA) Aito S9's "zero-gravity" rear seats has drawn public attention. The footage shows a child sitting in the front passenger seat without a seatbelt fastened. When the driver issued a voice command to deploy the rear zero-gravity seats, the front passenger seat began folding automatically, with the system failing to detect the presence of the occupant. Although the driver attempted to halt the movement using another voice command, the seat did not respond and continued folding. In response, Harmony Intelligent Mobility stated that the seat is equipped with an anti-pinch function, but the resistance encountered in the video did not reach the activation threshold—though the specific threshold value remains undisclosed. Real-world testing indicates that under normal conditions, the folding mechanism typically does not initiate if someone is seated in the front passenger seat or if the seat encounters resistance. Users can also manually stop the folding process via physical buttons or the vehicle’s touchscreen interface. However, if the occupant is particularly light in weight or not positioned within the effective detection zone of the seat’s pressure sensors, the system may fail to recognize their presence, thereby preventing the anti-pinch feature from activating. Additionally, the voice-command pause function demonstrates inconsistent performance across different HIMA vehicle models. While some vehicles can successfully halt the folding motion mid-process via voice command, the Aito S9 has exhibited both successful and failed outcomes in this regard. Although replicating the exact scenario shown in the video proves challenging, related tests suggest there remains room for improvement in the anti-pinch mechanism. Harmony Intelligent Mobility has stated it will launch targeted enhancements to address this issue.