Huawei unveils smartphone-driven car at Mobile World Congress

BARCELONA - China's telecommunications giant Huawei on Monday unveiled a smartphone-controlled vehicle, the first of its kind according to the company, at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

The "RoadReader" project uses a Huawei Mate 10 phone to help control a converted Porsche Panamera which is able to detect obstacles and react to outside stimuli.

The car has the capacity to learn and select the correct action according to circumstances.

The camera in the smartphone scans and identifies objects on road, transmitting the information to the vehicle's automatic systems by Wi-Fi.

Huawei says the car can "distinguish between 1,000 different objects, including cats, dogs, footballs and bicycles" thanks to the smartphone's memory.

"Our smartphone has excellent functions for object recognition," explained Huawei's Managing Director for Western Europe Garrihy.

In a session prior to the opening of the MWC, Huawei highlighted the importance of Artificial Intelligence to the company with Ryan Ding, the President of Huawei Carrier Business Group, signaling the need to "encrust Artificial Intelligence in services and networks to give more flexible services."

Around 108,000 visitors are expected to attend the 2018 MWC, where 2,300 companies will be exhibiting their products and services.