Sony Global Debut of "Vision-Language Model-Based Driving Takeover Risk Warning" Technology at the 9th China International Import Expo

On November 5, 2026, Sony (China) Co., Ltd. held the global debut of its "Vision-Language Model-Based Driver Takeover Risk Warning" mobility technology at the 9th China International Import Expo. The technology uses a vision-language model (VLM) to analyze the road view ahead of the vehicle, determine whether road conditions are approaching or exceeding the operational design domain (ODD) of the intelligent driving system, and provide graded alerts to the driver. Takeover alerts are divided into three levels: when approaching the boundary, the driver is reminded to prepare to take over; when beyond the range but not yet urgent, the driver is guided to take over proactively; and in high-risk situations such as sudden obstacles or perception failure, an emergency takeover alert is issued. During development, the team used a digital twin simulation environment to generate data under conditions including daytime, nighttime, heavy rain, and high-speed driving for model training and validation. Currently, the technology has been undergoing real-road testing with the School of Vehicle and Mobility at Tsinghua University in Xiangcheng District, Suzhou.