The automotive industry represents an incredible opportunity for XR vendors. Every kind of immersive technology has a role to play in this space. Virtual reality can help with training drivers and pilots or provide a virtual showroom experience for modern clients.
Augmented reality can assist with the maintenance of crucial vehicle components, and mixed reality can build a unique environment where teams can collaborate over new model designs.
While countless XR vendors have made an impact on the automotive space in recent years, some have had a particularly transformational impact on the way we think about our day-to-day vehicles.
Here are some of the most significant XR vendors majoring in the automotive industry this year.
Basemark
A leading Finnish software firm with its eye on the future of automotive innovation, Basemark has been making strides towards a future of AR in cars.
The company recently worked with BMW on the creation of an innovative application for iX model cars. This solution not only delivers AR navigation to help guide users to their destination, but it can also help with safer parking experiences too.
Basemark has a strong background in the automotive space, and a powerful heritage in the development of real-time software solutions for vehicles. The company is even responsible for the world’s first automotive end-to-end operating system. There’s a good chance this company will deliver even more innovation in the XR environment in the years ahead.
Holoride
A company with a unique take on what future automotive experiences might look like, Holoride is an XR company investing in taking every day journeys and making them immersive. The Holoride brand specialises in combining navigational and in-car data points with extended reality innovations, to create a new kind of content.
The “Elastic Content” created by Holoride promises to change not the driver experience, but the experience of the backseat passenger. The company has worked alongside Disney, Discovery Channel, Porsche, and other brands to create a new kind of immersive entertainment, intended to power future games, theme park rides, educational experiences and more.
Varjo
Innovators in XR and VR solutions, Varjo is working hard on building a more immersive future for all industries – including the automotive landscape. The rapidly evolving Varjo portfolio includes headsets and devices for a range of different use cases in the automotive space. Already, the company has worked alongside brands like Kia to speed up design reviews by 99% when the company creates a new car.
Varjo high-quality headsets, capable of integrating with a wide range of powerful tools, have the ability to unlock new levels of innovation for automotive teams.
Companies are rapidly discovering that MR and VR spaces allow their team members to iterate car designs, experiment with new concepts, and even build models, without wasting resources. These XR tools can even help to bring teams together for better cross-country collaboration.
Crosshelmet
An excellent example of how XR in the automotive landscape doesn’t have to focus on cars alone, Crosshelmet is imagining a future where drivers will be able to get more information in real-time, when managing a motorcycle.
The Crosshelmet technology builds a dual monitor HUD system into the standard motorcycle helmet, to ensure users can see not only what’s going on the road and in the world around them, but the information they need to drive safely too.
The Crosshelmet display can showcase essential information from weather conditions to rout directions and time, in a customizable format created to empower riders, rather than distracting them. The helmet even comes with built-in enhancements to reduce environmental sounds, while focusing clarity on the sounds you need to hear. This technology could be crucial to making motorcyclists safer on the roads.
Infineon
A Leader in computer technology, Infineon is one of the market leaders paving the way to a future of more powerful displays in the automotive world.
In 2021, the company announced it had released a new MEMs scanner to improve the AR capabilities of automotive heads-up displays and wearable devices. These scanners will help to lower power consumption rates, to make AR in the car of the future a more realistic possibility.
Infineon is the innovator behind the technology manufacturers will need to create a future where you can see all the information you need for a better driving experience depicted on the windshield in front of you. This could be the brand responsible for unlocking a new future for AR HUDs.
Microsoft
One of the major innovators in the technology world today, Microsoft is getting involved with various aspects of the future automotive environment, from the metaverse, to Mixed Reality.
The company has already worked with various automotive companies to help with the creation of more immersive design experiences through the Microsoft HoloLens.
Microsoft is also helping brands to create differentiated customer experiences, with mixed reality showrooms and demonstration opportunities for modern companies.
Audi and Microsoft are currently working together on paving the way for a new age of autonomous driving too. With a whole segment of the Microsoft brand dedicated to the automotive industry, we’re sure to see some exciting things in the years ahead.
Meta
As the company behind one of the most affordable environments for virtual reality, Meta is a go-to brand for many companies trying to leverage immersive technology.
The company offers business leaders in the automotive industry an opportunity to help team members collaborate more effectively in virtual environments when they need help coming up with new ideas or fixing a common mechanical problem with a car.
As Meta devices become more advanced, and the focus on the Metaverse continues, there’s a good chance the company will continue to increase its investments in building the immersive driving experiences of the future. We could even see Meta getting involved with the creation of virtual HUDs for cars too.
