To celebrate the launch of the new Audi A7 Sportback; vStream was commissioned by Audi Ireland to create a holographic, interactive tour of the vehicle through the use of Microsoft HoloLens glasses, complete with an AI computer generated tour guide (Simone) to help customers through the experience.
When asked about being given the task of developing a world’s first interactive experience for Audi, Andrew Jenkinson, Co-founder of vStream said: “We chose the Microsoft HoloLens platform. In vStream we’re technology agnostic, which means we want to create the best experience but it really doesn’t matter to us which product or what platform we use. If the right platform doesn’t exist; we create one from the ground up. But HoloLens really ticked all of the boxes for us because it allowed us to develop a holographic, interactive interface for customers to learn about the car and be guided around by our artificial intelligence guide, Simone.”
Taking a step beyond virtual reality software, a mixed reality platform was chosen to provide the optimal immersive experience for Audi customers. Instead of peering into a virtual world through a VR headset, customers will now be able to experience the technology’s augmented reality projected on to their real-world surroundings within the Audi showroom.
The experience which takes approximately 10 minutes is broken into three modules; Exterior Design, Interior and Technology. As part of the experience, Simone, a holographic character, acts as a guide to the bespoke holographic graphics, 3D sound and video files to tell the Audi technology story.
Richard Molloy, Head of Marketing and Product, Audi Ireland had this to say about the experience: “Customers are blown away, they really are. It’s a world first, customers haven’t seen this before so when they come into the showroom they’re expecting the more traditional test drive and viewing of the car in the showroom. But now this is really enhancing that experience and showing why Audi is known for its innovation”.
Audi recognises the massive potential and inevitable mainstream use of these experiential technologies and are placing themselves in the best possible position to always be ahead of the curve.