CES: Audi invests in VR in-car entertainment
BY JUSTIN HILLIARD | 9th Jan 2019
AUDI has revealed its vision for the future of in-car entertainment at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, demonstrating regular wearable virtual reality (VR) glasses that respond to vehicle movements in real time.
Through one of its subsidiaries, Audi Electronics Venture, the German brand co-founded the start-up it licenced the technology to, Holoride, which plans to commercialise its vehicle data-driven software development kit via an open platform within the next three years.
As a result, the technology will be available to rival car-makers and other content developers in the future, enabling them to create additional extended VR formats.
This unusual move forms part of Audi’s overall strategy to establish this new category of in-car entertainment as quickly and comprehensively as possible, according to Audi head of digital business and future Holoride chief executive officer Nils Wollny.
“Creative minds will use our platform to come up with fascinating worlds that turn the journey from A to B into a real adventure,” he said.
“We can only develop this new entertainment segment by adopting a co-operative, open approach for vehicle, device and content producers.”
One such long-term development that could take place is the technology’s integration with V2X (Vehicle to Everything), which would see it also react to traffic events encountered along the driving route.
However, in the present day, the technology is more limited in its functionality, with Audi partnering with Disney Games and Interactive Experiences to a develop a VR game, Marvel’s Avengers: Rocket’s Rescue Run.
Using an e-tron battery-electric SUV as a test car, second-row passengers are transported into outer space, where they are aboard the ship manned by Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy, including Rocket, as it navigates an asteroid field.
If the e-tron turns around a tight corner, the player will correspondingly curve around an opposing spaceship, while real-world acceleration results in increased momentum in the game.
Crucially, since the user’s visual experience and actual perception are aligned, Audi claims other VR content, such as movies or TV series, can be viewed with a significantly reduced chance of motion sickness.
