Allowing the driver to be immersed in a movie, selling cars in a virtual dealership, simulating the installation of a new part in the engine: several manufacturers and equipment suppliers showed at CES 2023, the Las Vegas technology fair, how they experience the metaverse. With or without a virtual reality headset, the metaverse invites you to immerse yourself in a new universe.
The French equipment manufacturer Valeo has thus developed a system that allows the driver or passenger to sit as if they were in front of a television screen at home and interact with their surroundings, with a helmet but without joystick or gloves thanks to the many sensors already present in the car that stains the hands.
For those who may feel oppressed by the full-face helmet, sensors installed outside the vehicle can allow pedestrians or landscapes to blend into virtual reality, explains Ghaya Khemiri, project leader. And if the sensors have detected that you are stressed, the system can offer you a relaxation session with relaxing images and sounds.
At Valeo, “we are working a lot on the electric car and the autonomous car, we have our sensors,” explains Ghaya Khemiri. “We wondered what we could offer for the pleasure of users.”
This system, still in prototype form, would initially be intended for passengers or drivers during a break, such as recharging an electric car. It could then be used by the driver in fully autonomous vehicles.
film on the windshield
Holoride, a start-up supported by the manufacturer Audi, already markets a virtual reality helmet intended solely for passengers in the back seat of the car. The system is designed so that they can watch a movie or play a video game with a controller without getting dizzy, synchronizing the content with the movements of the car. The company presented at CES a new version that can be used in all cars.
The German manufacturer BMW presented a prototype on Wednesday in Las Vegas that will supposedly inspire the brand’s next vehicles, mixing “the real and the virtual world.”
The group especially mentioned the possibility of projecting augmented reality images, such as speed or direction, on the windshield, or even transforming the entire windshield into a screen to watch a movie.
“We’ll have to wait several more years before we see a fully immersive and interconnected metaverse emerge, but mobile gamers can already derive real business value from purpose-built technologies,” says McKinsey, posting on the eve of CES, which is held until January 8, a report on the metaverse in the automotive sector.
For car sales, Fiat launched in Italy in December what the group calls a “dealership in the metaverse” where customers can search for, configure and even buy a car online, with the help of a real-time assistant.
remote repair
If technologies improve, including so-called haptic devices that simulate a sense of touch, consumers could “examine a very realistic replica of a vehicle: open its doors, touch its seats, speed down a road, just like they would a real car.” “. MacKinsey says.
Faced with a damaged vehicle, a technician could help a customer carry out a simple remote repair. The metaverse can also support the design of new products or make it easier to test a feature in multiple environments.
Alexandre Corjon, head of innovation at French equipment maker Plastic Omnium, came to CES in particular to explore the various uses the company could make of the technology.
Through the metaverse, he could, for example, show the client what a recycled material will look like in a specific shape, “making the designer aware of the effect it would have” on the vehicle, he says. Or demonstrate the best performance of a novelty.
The group also plans to experiment in the metaverse with management committees, which are sometimes difficult to assemble due to the group’s global activities, to avoid travel.
Source: BFM TV
