Next month, at the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) 2024, which has a history of showcasing XR customer and enterprise innovations, automotive leader Honda plans to showcase its unique VR experience platform.
The automotive firm is introducing the XR Mobility Experience platform that combines VR immersive experiences with the firm’s UNI-ONE mobility device, which is also debuting at SXSW 2024.
The XR platform looks to boost the number of eyes on the UNI-ONE while also providing a new combined technology solution that Honda believes has usability in sectors such as theme parks, entertainment, and retail.
SXSW 2024 attendees can demo the XR Mobility Experience at the event’s Creative Industries Expo for its global debut. The UNI-ONE mobility device is a hand-free product, with users moving in any direction based on postural movements. In the promotional video, it appears that Honda is leveraging Meta Quest Pro MR headsets.
Hirokazu Hara, the Vice President of New Business Development at American Honda Motor Company, added:
With the Honda XR Mobility Experience, we are expanding the joy and freedom of personal mobility into entertainment applications. By combining the unique, physical experience of riding the Honda UNI-ONE with highly immersive digital entertainment, Honda is creating a brand new multimodal experience that takes extended reality technologies to the next level.
Honda started testing the UNI-ONE mobility device in 2023, starting with multiple use cases at leisure and entertainment facilities in Japan, before presenting its XR-enhanced UNI-ONE product at SXSW next month.
XR to Enhance UNI-ONE Device
Based on insights from its 2023 tests in Japan. Honda is ready to wow SXSW auidences with its innovative automotive and XR technology unification.
SXSW attendees can visit the firm’s booth to try out the XR Mobility Experience and UNI-ONE device in a choose-your-own-adventure gameplay style offering.
According to the firm, as it presents its product at SXSW 2024, it also plans to push towards its commercialization in the US.
Honda is working with entertainment and retail business partners to leverage the XR product in tangible use cases. Moreover, Honda plans to collaborate with leading AR and VR developers to create more XR Mobility Experience content – notably confirming a push to include AR/MR content, not just the VR on show at SXSW.
Is the Automotive Sector a Major Driver in XR?
The automotive sector is becoming a significant driver for XR. Since the pandemic, Automotive firms have worked quickly with immersive platforms like Engage XR to host immersive showroom experiences for new products.
However, the consumer side is not the only element of the automotive industry that is struck by XR’s influence. For example, NVIDIA offers powerful design tools aimed at automotive professionals via its Omniverse ecosystem.
In January, NVIDIA introduced several new project partners for the Omniverse platform. These partnerships aim to improve the platform’s usability for automotive clients. NVIDIA is collaborating with ITONE, Brickland, Configit, Katana Studio, WPP ZeroLight, and Lotus to bring this enterprise-facing vision to life.
This move will help automotive companies leverage XR development tools to support auto industry use cases, including customer experience and auto-configuration operations.
As immersive productivity gains new optics and ground via the Apple Vision Pro workplace ambition. More sectors may elevate the usage of immersive technology in various ways, from consumer to enterprise-facing. With its storied history alongside XR, the automotive space is always one to follow.
