Audi to Become First Automotive Maker to Offer In-Vehicle Virtual Reality Entertainment

Top automotive makers basically build their vehicles with an interior that is more luxurious, more comfortable and more experiential for its passengers. How these carmakers make this happen has evolved through the years.

Most especially, Audi, who is taking several steps ahead of its competitors by becoming the first carmaker in the world to bring virtual-reality entertainment into series production.

The German automotive maker will equip a number of its vehicles with “holoride”, a virtual-reality entertainment technology developed by a Munich-based start-up of the same name.

First presented at CES 2019 (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, holoride will find its way into select Audi vehicles such as the Audi A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, Audi Q5, Q7, Q8, Audi e-tron, and Audi e-tron GT Quattro, equipped with the latest version of the third generation modular infotainment toolkit – MIB 3.

Only models with the MIB 3 system are holoride-capable. To use holoride, a passenger must connect, wirelessly via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and enabled a virtual reality headset with the vehicle. Starting June 2022, Audi plans to roll out holoride-capable models in Europe, Canada, Japan, China and the US.

Holoride-ready models will first arrive in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The arrival of holoride-ready vehicles will follow in other markets. When enabled, holoride allows rear seat passengers to use their VR glasses as a gateway to various virtual contents.

Passengers can watch films while on the move. They can also play virtual games through the VR glasses. In addition, passengers can also experience interactive content in a more realistic manner. This is essentially a new fun way of passing time while travelling from one place to another, especially on time-consuming journeys due to heavy traffic or distance.

Holoride will also offer the so-called “elastic content.” This kind of virtual content adapts to driving movements of the vehicle in real time; for example when a user chooses to ride on a spaceship in the virtual world. When the Audi car turns right, the spaceship will fly to the right. When the car picks up speed, the spaceship will also accelerate.

According to Audi, holoride also offer some benefits aside from entertainment. The motion-synchronised capability of the technology could help reduce motion sickness, thereby allowing passengers to enjoy the trip rather than dislike it. With holoride, the rear cabin can transform into a personal space for every passenger.