A system that marries virtual reality with a car’s driving movements was given a boost with a demonstration by Porsche at the Startup Autobahn Expo Day on Tuesday in Stuttgart, Germany.
The joint project between Porsche and holoride pairs a VR headset with sensors to the vehicle so that its content can be adapted to the car’s driving movements in real time. For instance, if the car is being driven around the curve, the space shuttle that the passenger is virtually travelling in will also change direction. This results in a highly immersive experience that is claimed to significantly reduce the symptoms of motion sickness. In future, the system will also, for example, be able to evaluate navigation data to adapt the length of a VR game to the calculated duration of the journey. Furthermore, the technology can be used to integrate other entertainment services such as films or virtual conferences.
Nils Wollny, CEO of holoride, said: “We are grateful to Startup Autobahn for the many opportunities and contacts it has made possible for us. This has given our projects a major boost in recent weeks, enabling us to realise a prototype in just 100 days.”
Wollny founded the entertainment technology startup at the end of 2018 in Munich with Marcus Kühne and Daniel Profendiner.
The “holoride” software makes it possible to offer what is being dubbed “elastic content”: a form of media specifically designed for use in vehicles, in which the content adapts to driving time, motion and context. The startup’s business model uses an open platform approach, allowing other car manufacturers and content producers to use the technology.
Anja Mertens, project manager for Smart Mobility at Porsche, said: "A new dimension for in-car entertainment is opened up by holoride. The manufacturer-independent approach convinced us from the start and, over the past few weeks, the team has proven what this technology can do. We look forward to taking the next steps together.”
Holoride aims to bring this new form of entertainment using commercially available VR headsets in the rear seats of the car to market in the next three years. With further development of Car-to-X infrastructure, traffic events can also become part of the experience in the long term. Traffic light stops could then be unexpected obstacles in the plot or interrupt a learning programme with a short quiz.