The “end” of the car in the form we know today will bring about the emergence of an entire class of new vehicles. Mobile places on wheels, to be experienced as extensions of your home. And now also experiences in VR, as Holoride declares.
holoride, startup born from an Audi rib, announced this week that after a year of life and development, it is proposing to the public a strong partnership with Ford and Universal Pictures.
And what is special about this new company?
Holoride is focused on providing unique experiences in Virtual Reality based on car travel. The images and actions are in perfect sync with the journey: sensors on the cars capture the movement surrounding the car, and the presence of people, and transfer it to the helmet in VR. A very interesting concept, because unlike other prototypes under development in this sector it does not cause nausea during the journey. Curves, accelerations and even pedestrians are integrated into the virtual environment.
Here is a promotional video that illustrates the concept behind Holoride.
Holoride: looks like fantasy, but it is already functional
The company stunned journalists at the recent CES 2020 by showing off underwater games and an Avengers-themed demo, but the first product to see the light of day will be a VR adventure based on “Bride of Frankenstein.” In a presentation to the press, the experts were able to face monsters and obstacles from the comfortable seat of a new Ford Explorer, an SUV whose comfort made the comfortable seats of 3D cinemas pale in comparison.
The stories were created by Universal Monsters, a spin-off company of Universal focused on the development of "creepy" settings and characters, while Holoride took care of capturing and providing data such as the speed of the vehicle and its direction to allow the VR experience to be perfectly synchronized.
The (historic, it must be said) partnership with Ford is one of the reasons why Audi aimed to create a "third party" company. It may even be the embryo of a standard that will one day be the basis of all entertainment systems in new cars. VR in cars still seems (I rephrase: IS) a niche product, but it is possible that this niche will even lead the way for virtual reality in homes.
