Karma Automotive Unveils Luxury Electric Car with 5G, Biometric Features

The electric carmaker Karma Automotive has revealed that its new SC1 Vision Concept car will be making its North American debut at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, August 18th. The SC1 will be displayed on the Concept Lawn during the event.

The new luxury vehicle comes with a slew of high-tech bells and whistles, including 5G connectivity and an AI voice assistant that can understand and execute basic spoken commands. It can also identify drivers and passengers thanks to a camera-based eye-tracking system with iris recognition capabilities.

“Designed and engineered in less than 12 months, SC1 is a full battery electric vehicle that explores innovative technology integration,” said Karma CEO Lance Zhou.

The eye-tracking system doubles as an important safety feature that will monitor the driver’s eyes and gaze for any signs of distraction or fatigue. In that regard, it is similar to Subaru’s Eyesight Driver Assist technology. The SC1’s AI will take control of the vehicle to prevent a collision if it notices that the driver is getting tired.

In addition to the internal cameras, the SC1 comes equipped with a series of external cameras and sensors to facilitate autonomous driving. The features are in keeping with the latest automotive trends, with companies like Apple and Tencent searching for ways to integrate biometric technology into self-driving cars.