On 13th of December 2018, one year after launching the Honda Innovation Team Europe, a Honda garage transformed into a startup exhibition, giving the spotlight to scientific discussions with eight startups from various areas of technology.

Andreas Richter, HRI-EU’s president invited everyone to actively challenge each other on a technical and scientific level. Kick starting the exchange, each startup gave a three-minute pitch. In the following three hours, scientists, engineers and senior management from Honda Research Institute and Honda R&D Europe explored prototypes and analyzed new technologies up close.

Exhibiting startups included, Foldaway who brought their unique, origami haptic interfaces to touch and experience, Emotech who showcased Olly, the robot with personality, Twaice who presented their virtual battery model framework, Letos who presented a prototype to capture spontaneous behavioral reactions, Meshicon who introduced motion control in VR/AR, Kauz who showcased their linguistic technology, Footfalls & Heartbeats who equipped a Honda CR-V with smart materials, and Aircloak who brought the world of data anonymization to Honda.

During the “1st HRI Open Days”, many fruitful discussions built the foundation for new potential collaborations. Due to the positive feedback from both sides, the event will become a regular event, fostering open discussions between Honda and startups.

Footfalls & Heartbeats:
www.footfallsandheartbeats.com

Kauz:
www.kauz.net

Twaice:
www.twaice.com

Aircloak:
www.aircloak.com

Foldaway:
www.foldaway-haptics.ch

Letos:
www.letos.me/#about

Meshicon:
www.meshicon.com

Emotech:
www.emotech.ai