If you’re a carmaker these days, you’d better have a plan on how to integrate augmented reality into your business. This unspoken but golden rule is currently driving Ferrari to address the internet-age-old issue of imperfect configurators.
Soon you’ll be able to walk into a Prancing Horse showroom, point your tablet at a car and create your dream ride in real-time. The company is on track to introduce a custom tablet app that relies on the front camera for three-dimensional object recognition.
Once you’re locked on your supercar target, the virtual bits starts flowing in. From colors to wheel combination, through brake caliper hues and all sorts of accesories, this will be a major step forward compared to the current configurators.
Unfortunately, the app doesn't seem to adress the "real-vs-virtual-color" issue. As you know, when you want to buy a car, you always have to google the name of the hue you select, since the configurator shows renderings, not actual images of the car.
Moreover, this is an app that magically turns you into a connoisseur. It can offer an exploded 3D view of the braking system, as well as aerodynamic insights and powertrain details.
The Ferrari Augmented Reality Showroom was developed by Metaio and Zspace, as Jalopnik writes. The two companies have done quite a lot of coding on the virtual reality topic over the last few years and now they’re ready to serve the most popular brand in the world.
As we said, the competition is not resting on 2D laurels either. For instance, Lamborghini tested the augmented reality waters at the Geneva Motor Show this year. Using 3D glasses, they tricked attenders seated inside an Aventador that they were driving a Huracan. The Raging Bull used a different approach to Ferrari's, turning to a Samsung VR headset for the job.
Heck, even a recent regional Volvo launch we attended included an Oculus Rift 3D headset allowing you to see the new XC90 as a mechanic with X-Ray vision would. Just wait until the promises of a 3D internet that were made by tech giant execs become a... real reality. We’ll all be driving Ferraris then.
Of course, there’s a long way to that. For now, the technology is moving one step at a time. In Ferrari’s case, this means the Augmented Reality tech is set to land in Japanese and Australian dealers by the end of the year. The database of covered cars includes the California T, 458 Speciale, 458 Spider, and F12berlinetta.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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