At the Web Summit at the beginning of November 2022, BMW has announced the development of ///M Mixed Reality. With this new mixed reality car experience, the vehicle becomes the controller in a virtual world. This in-car experience is available in the new BMW M2. Frank van Meel, Chief Executive of BMW M GmbH, said: “[Users] may want to drive vehicles that they own in real life in the latest racing game.”
BMW uses mixed reality (MR) technology of Varjo Technologies to turn their cars into controllers. It goes beyond simply bringing digital services into the car, Van Meel says. The new developments will merge the physical and virtual world of the users, by turning the car into a controller. This enables customers to drive their vehicles in the latest racing game, he said. The ///M Mixed Reality car experience will be available in BMW’s M2 first.
Mixed reality car experience for M2 by BMW
For the development of M2, BMW has collaborated with game companies such as Epic Games to explore the possibilities. According to Van Meel, these companies didn’t collaborate with car companies until then, leading to truly innovative project. He says: “With Epic, we have found the best possible partner. We have gained a lot of experience with them and their Unreal Engine.”
The way it works, is that BMW or external partners can set-up a racetrack on existing racetracks or on an empty parking lot. After that, the racer gets in the car, puts on the Varjo XR-3 headset, and gets immersed in a virtual world. The user can still see the interior of the car, but outside a virtual racetrack. Users that drive the fastest laps and collect the most coins that emerge on the track are the winners.
Watch the video above by BMWblog’s Nico DeMattia to get a good sense of the experience
