Long car rides in the back seat are usually not very spectacular, especially for the youngsters. The German Audi spin-off Holoride wants to change that; she has developed a system with which you can immerse yourself in VR worlds even while driving. This seems bizarre at first, after all, quite a few users get nauseous while sitting or standing when they have VR glasses on. If you then add the movement of the car, that sounds like an imminent reason for an interior cleaning.
But Holoride promises nothing less than the absence of motion sickness when using the system. For this, the movements of the car and even the environment are integrated into the respective game or application. At the CES in Las Vegas we were able to test the finished system on our own bodies during a test drive. Since the author tends to have a queasy VR stomach sooner rather than later, he had to serve as a guinea pig. To anticipate: Holoride didn’t promise too much and even as a rather sensitive user, at least the short tour through Las Vegas didn’t cause any nausea.
Once the vehicle starts moving, so does the in-game environment. Regardless of whether braking maneuvers or fast cornering, the software responds visually. This usually happens in the background of the actual events, but that’s enough to prevent nausea. Unlike conventional virtual reality, real G-forces are involved when something moves virtually, which makes for more realism here and there. However, due to the lack of a closed-off racetrack and the traffic light phases in Las Vegas, this potential could not be fully exploited.
Not bad at all
What a difference the adjustments made was felt with a short loading screen that didn’t compensate for the movement: immediately the body reacted with a certain disorientation. The manufacturer speaks of up to 120 milliseconds of latency when converting the sensor data, which initially seems a lot in the VR context. In contrast to head movements, this should be enough to fool the body into thinking normality.
As with other VR environments, the actual content is generally the focus of attention. But Holoride doesn’t just offer some gimmicks in the peripheral field of vision. A comparison with Open Street Map data should ensure that the virtual landscape is adapted to the actual environment. In conjunction with navigation data, the game worlds should be assembled in advance to match the journey as far as possible. Errors such as driving through objects should also be prevented in this way. It remains to be seen how far the concept can be pushed and whether it will enable virtual city tours, for example.
Pixel in the flagship title Ripped 1995: On the Roadone spinoff of the game series of the same name adapted for Holoride for VR glasses, some of the possibilities were already visible. While you were also sitting in the car in the game, the virtual landscape passed by outside. It wasn’t a virtual Vegas, but it fit the style of the game. The actual game also reacted to cornering and thus provided variety when jumping and running. Later in the game you sometimes sit surprisingly on the car roof, without feeling detached from your own body.
In addition to various other games, there is, for example, an integration of the smartphone, the screen of which can also be enlarged properly for YouTube or Netflix. Holoride even thinks that classic travel sickness can be prevented by looking at a virtual smartphone. The generic VR landscape in the background certainly served its purpose.
Games and software must be specially adapted for Holoride for motion compensation to work. The necessary SDK for Holoride is available to all interested developers. In conversation with the pixel-ripped creators from Arvore, they emphasized to heise online that the integration of the movement data was the easiest part of the development. Holoride itself is trying to convince other established game publishers, so other well-known franchises can be expected in the portfolio.
The technology behind Holoride
Holoride is currently available in two variants: as a general retrofit solution for the windscreen and fully integrated into the car. The latter is currently only available for Audi vehicles that have been sold since the second half of 2022. A so-called conbox is installed there.
With both variants, acceleration values and position data obtained via GPS are sent in encrypted form to the VR headset connected via Bluetooth. Custom software then incorporates this information into the virtual environment so that it responds appropriately when cornering, starting and stopping.
The retrofit kit comes with a transmitter containing the gyro transmitter and GPS receiver, glasses and a controller for 900 euros for each car.
With the integrated solution, additional information is added, such as data on steering movements and braking maneuvers, as well as navigation data. To secure access to sensitive vehicle data, a connection must be established once via the MyAudi app. Other manufacturers should also be able to integrate Holoride into their cars, but there are no concrete partnerships yet. We undertook our test drive with a correspondingly equipped Audi, whereby according to Holoride the experience should be virtually identical with both solutions.
The HTC Vive Flow is currently used as VR glasses, which is comparatively light at 200 grams because it only has a tiny buffer battery. It can be powered either directly via a USB-C port in the car or via an external battery. Even if the headset is otherwise self-sufficient and no external computer is required, at least one cable remains during use. That wasn’t really disturbing.
Software on subscription
The VR glasses themselves allow short-sighted people to easily adjust the required dioptres with a rotary wheel, but if necessary, optical glasses that are not too large also fit under the headset. It is operated via a supplied controller and does not pose any riddles. Very pleasing: The headset can also be used away from Holoride and serve as a gaming device at home.
The bandwidth of Bluetooth Low Energy is sufficient as a connection to the headset, only sensor data is transmitted. The game runs directly on the respective glasses.
Support for more headsets is planned; Holoride wants to make the ecosystem or “Motorverse” as open as possible. For now, the HTC model is the only option.
There are currently around ten games for Holoride, with more titles expected to be added every month. To use it, a subscription must be taken out, which currently costs just under 15 euros a month for an annual subscription, and 20 euros if it can be canceled monthly. If you buy the package with glasses, you get the first year of the subscription for free. For retrofitting, the package with glasses, transmitter and controller costs 900 euros, without a transmitter for the pre-equipped Audis 700 euros.
(asp)
