Porsche Takes Backseat Driving To The Next Level With Virtual Reality

Most new in-cabin technology is directed at enhancing the driver’s experience, but Porsche plans to liven things up in the second row. The luxury automotive manufacture announced that it has partnered with Holoride to enable vehicle-synced virtual reality experiences for passengers.

Holoride is an entertainment technology start-up creating responsive “extended reality” content that is synchronized with a vehicle’s motion. Its technology uses sensors on commercially available VR headsets to link vehicle telemetry data, such as speed, motion, and direction, to create augmented reality 2D and 3D videos and games that adapt to the real-world.

This means that if a passenger is watching a video where they explore a fictional futuristic world in a drone, they will experience the same directional movement in the virtual environment in real-time as they do in the back seat of the car.

Content that changes based on the vehicle’s movement gives the passenger a more immersive entertainment experience, and it also could reduce motion sickness commonly felt when reading or watching videos in cars. User testing demonstrated that many people with a history of experiencing motion sickness didn’t have that sensation when they used Holoride’s technology. The company is working to make its real-time VR content adjustable to match trip duration–a customization that would help parents pry kids away from the virtual reality headsets when the car is parked.

The technology was developed by engineers at Audi Electronics Venture, which spun off the entertainment group into what is now Holoride. The start-up already has a partnership with media company Discovery to produce 2D “edutainment” documentaries using its open platform, and is aiming to have the product ready for Porsche’s production vehicles by 2021.