Audi and Holoride turn a car’s backseat into a virtual theme park
Holoride, a high-tech spin-off of German automobile manufacturer Audi, is introducing a new “XR” extended reality entertainment experience that combines virtual reality headsets with real-time driving data to turn a car’s backseat into a mobile theme park.
As recently reported by Forbes, Holoride is brainchild of Audi AG digital developers, and was spun off as a separate entity with Audi Electronics Venture GmbH holding a minority share in the company. Holoride draws data from a vehicle’s navigation, GPS, speed, braking, acceleration and driving environment and converts it into what co-founder and CEO Nils Wollny calls an “immersive experience.”
People often can’t enjoy transit time because watching a movie or reading makes them feel uncomfortable. By matching what you see and what you feel with almost no latency, Holoride is able to reduce motion sickness.
“If you’re sitting in the back seat, movement on the vehicle transfers one-to-one in a virtual environment, so you’re sitting in virtual spaceship and the car accelerates, or spaceship accelerates,” Wollny told Forbes. “It’s a completely immersive experience that’s better than any simulation can be because it’s not a simulation. You’re sitting in a car feeling the real G-forces, that makes it so much more immersive that people forget about space and time.”
With holoride technology, the XR content is never the same. It adapts to the type of route, to driving styles – and it’s connected to the location. Content becomes elastic and tailored to your trip. Soon, data from connected cities as well as from other cars will be added to make XR on the go an even richer and more immersive experience.
“They can choose from different types of experiences, whether it’s games or exploring a fantastic environment,” said Wollny. “The can also explore non-fiction educational experiences. People can choose the world they want.”
More than one passenger can play at a time, and in the future passengers in connected vehicles may be able to compete. And the Holoride system could provide passengers with entertainment in a future of ubiquitous ride-sharing services and self-driving cars.
In addition to Audi, Porsche and Daimler AG and its Mercedes-Benz brand are on board, with additional partners scheduled to be announced later this year. Holoride should available in production vehicles by 2021, and might be included as standard equipment on some models.
For more information visit holoride.com and watch this preview video:
