Say you're driving late at night and you start to feel lonely. What if your car, detecting your change of mood through an array of sensors and cameras, suddenly asked how you were feeling? Better yet, what if your car already knew how you were feeling, and offered to cheer you up? This possible future was sketched out by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son at an event in Tokyo Thursday, according to Reuters. The eccentric tech executive, who recently announced his company's acquisition of chip manufacturer ARM for 34.1 billion, said he is working with Honda to produce a car that can both talk and read a driver's emotions. "Imagine if robots, with their super intelligence, devoted themselves to humans," Son said, according to Reuters.

Car maker Honda is teaming up with electronics giant Softbank to work on artificial intelligence (AI). The pair have confirmed they will develop an innovative range of products, which use sensors and cameras to improve the breadth and depth of communication possible between car and driver. Soft bank's pionerering Pepper robot was designed to live with humans and the company will now work with Honda through its robotics unit – Cocoro SB – to create products that give drivers a feeling of'friendship' with their cars. Honda is opening a new AI laboratory in Tokyo in September as it continues its investment in the future of robotics.