Concept cars unveiled at CES aim to be 'extension of driver'

Futuristic concept cars capture the imagination at the CES tech convention in Las Vegas.

Adam Reed reports.

Racing towards the future of driving at the CES tech convention.

Autonomous cars are always one of the big attractions at the annual Las Vegas event and 3 of the world's leading manufacturers believe they've got the best steer on what drivers want.

Japanese carmaker Honda unveiled its new concept, whereby the driver can switch from autonomous to semi-autonomous or manual mode, using a reinvented steering wheel: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, HONDA, MARCOS FROMMER, SAYING: "You simply push forward on it and I am accelerating.

I'm going up to 60 miles per hour.

That's pretty good.

You can see this going 65.

I'm going to slow down a little bit.

And I'm going to come to a stop." Honda's design dispenses with pedals, for a minimalistic autonomous experience.

Elsewhere, Toyota's LQ concept car takes autonomy one step further, allowing its car to read drivers' biometrics and even tap into their emotional state.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) TOYOTA REPRESENTATIVE, KEVIN MELENDEZ, SAYING: "For example, if you're having a little bit of a down day, the car notices this through biometrics and will actually suggest to you, hey, why don't we go take a visit to that favorite spot of yours in the park or this favorite movie of yours is playing at 7.30pm, why don't we get some tickets?

Going in a whole other direction is Hyundai's S-A1.

Known as an electric Urban Air Mobility vehicle, it's designed to take to the skies and beat the traffic at altitudes of up to 2,000 feet.

Hyundai already has partnered with Uber and revealed it could be set for take off within the next 3 years.