Report: CES 2023: Volvo Penta Unveils Future Concept of Boating for Everyone

Jan 11, 2022

Everyone has gone digital including Volvo Penta. Under the headline ‘Boating for everyone’, Volvo Penta used this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to imagine a brave new world for exploring and experiencing life on the water built around accessibility for all. Through an immersive and visionary exhibit, visitors can get an exclusive look at how the company imagines the boating experience of tomorrow. Volvo Penta aimed to kickstart a dialogue with CES attendees and online boating audiences on how to evolve boating together.

An experience designed around you

In the future, Volvo Penta believes that how and why people boat will change, with a more human-centric approach elevating the experience and new technology and business models making it more accessible. Individually tailored experiences offer stronger emotional connections and greater scope for reaching new levels of enjoyment. As part of this, the new customer experience must embrace less experienced boaters and new entrants. For both first-time boaters and highly skilled enthusiasts, there is a need to create a more personalized experience.

Artificial Intelligence and automation: For Volvo Penta, AI and automation are key enablers in delivering Boating for everyone. First-time boaters (or those with experience, who simply prefer to enjoy the on-water experience instead of driving) could choose high-level automation. This could be activated at the start of the experience — for example, having the boat automatically deliver itself to the customer meeting point at the marina and then navigating itself out to open water.

In between the limits of no experience and full experience, automated ‘nudging’ could enable inexperienced boaters to learn more of the driving process as they progressed. Through AI, the user could learn about driving gradually. This would ensure peace of mind, but also increase boating competence and confidence steadily.

AI could also be integral to delivering more personalized experiences: understanding user preferences and offering recommendations around experiences, sports, destinations and more.

For those who missed CES, updates are posted across Volvo Penta’s social media channels: Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.