What I have is this:
The Honda factory service manual for my 2007 Odyssey touches on these operations, including diagnosing issues. It does not have an ISBN number that I can find.
These systems (multi-zone HVAC, navigation) seem to have been introduced in MY 2004, remaining mostly unchanged until MY 2008 when (at least) the navigation was facelifted and the rear HVAC zone became more autonomous.
Anyway, within volume 2 of that manual is this passage:
i-Dual Zone and i-Tri Zone Climate Control system (With navigation system)
The "i-Dual zone" climate control system automatically controls the temperature and the vent mode of the air direction
to the driver's and passenger's side, depending on the angle of the sun, and the direction of the vehicle. It calculates
information such as date, time, longitude, and latitude from the navigation system, as well as the radiant strength of the
sun from the sunlight sensor, to determine the appropriate mode position and temperature to be directed to each side.
The "i-Tri zone" climate control system is an addition of the automatic controls with the temperature and the vent mode
of the air direction to the rear section to the "i-Dual zone" climate control system.
...and if I'd read something like that in 2004 (or in 2007), I simply wouldn't have believed it. Even now in 2024 it seems either a bit far-fetched or blatantly obvious, with very little middle-ground -- especially for a vehicle that can't even turn its own headlights on and off or adjust dash lighting intensity based on apparent daylight conditions (as Chevy and BMW were variously doing over a decade prior).
(Other parts of the Honda manual describe the in-car temperature sensor.)