I had a fascinating experience last week. I got to see and experience the new Jaguar I-Pace, the company’s electric answer to the as-yet-unannounced Tesla Y SUV, long before I’ll actually get to see the prototype. I didn’t just get to see the car — I got to understand intimately why the car was created and what went into its design. I got to experience aspects of the vehicle viscerally, without actually getting into it.
My experience was possible due to an alliance between Dell, HTC and Jaguar. It dovetails with a project that Nvidia and Audi have undertaken to showcase cars in dealerships without the dealerships actually having to floor the car. It opens the door, ironically, to an even more localized experience than Tesla has with its store front dealerships.
I think VR eventually will change how we buy most physical things, and I find it amazing that it is starting with cars first. I’ll focus on that this week and close with my product of the week, which has to be this amazing new car from Jaguar. I loved it so much I got on a list to order it.
Virtual Reality
There are three visual technologies in the process of coming to market right now. There’s augmented reality, which Google Glass showcased and nearly killed. AR overlays information over the real world — usually through some kind of small head-mounted projector muck like a heads-up display. Like heads-up displays, AR doesn’t really change what you see — it enhances or augments it. Read More…