Introduction to BMW M Mixed Reality
To any unsuspecting bystander, it will’ve looked like someone, likely impaired, driving a flashy BMW in aimless circles around a deserted parking zone. But from my vantage point—in the motive force’s seat, staring right into a virtual reality headset—there was no parking zone in any respect. What I saw was a colourful digital racetrack, attempting to set a fast lap time while collecting floating BMW-branded tokens.
The Experience
If this sounds bizarre, that’s since it very much was. Whipping around a 510-horsepower sports automotive while wearing essentially a high-tech blindfold was a singularly mind-bending experience. Now, whether or not this tech has any real-world applications remains to be being determined. Regardless, it was fun as hell. What I’m describing is BMW M Mixed Reality, an experience BMW designed as a part of its experimentation within the worlds of augmented and virtual reality.
How it Works
You can book a spin in VR for yourself alongside a BMW driving instructor, for those who live in Germany and have 660 euros to spare. I got to ascertain it out, together with other research projects, as a part of a tour of BMW’s R&D center in Silicon Valley. I used to be warned the experience might break my brain. It didn’t disappoint. After strapping into the M4 and adjusting my seat, the BMW worker sitting shotgun passed me a VR headset with a bunch of motion-tracking doodads on it and invited me to strap it on.
The Virtual Environment
I used to be presented with a yellow dot on a dark background that I had to take a look at for a couple of seconds, to calibrate the eye-tracking system. Then we were off. At this point, I could see the surface world via the headset’s outward-facing cameras. A trail of virtual arrows materialized ahead of me, and the system suggested I follow them to the beginning line. With the arrogance and precision of a newborn deer taking its first steps, I executed the worst right turn of my life. Driving an actual automotive toward virtual cues was weirdly hard.
The Racing Experience
The real world then faded away and a neon-filled video-game universe straight out of "Tron" took its place. From the dashboard up, every little thing became digitized: the automotive’s A-pillar, the shimmering racetrack ahead, the view out of the window to my left. If I glanced down, nevertheless, I could still glimpse the automotive’s interior. BMW realized people must see their hands on the steering wheel to drive properly. Good pondering. Even though I had known vaguely what to anticipate from an earlier presentation, it was tough to carry back my amazement at this dazzling virtual environment.
Potential Applications
You’re probably wondering, as I did, what value this tech offers society aside from very cool, real-world video games. BMW won’t yet say exactly. But we all know from BMW’s own concepts like i Vision Dee and Neue Klasse that its future electric cars will make heavy use of augmented reality displays, even across windshields as a substitute of touchscreens. The automaker is certainly working on stuff like this for its latest lineup of EVs, in addition to augmented voice controls.
Conclusion
It’s entirely possible I got a high-level preview of what is to come back. And I believe it has potential track applications for the M crowd, too. Maybe someday it could just give amateurs a spot to make otherwise humiliating and dangerous mistakes on their very own, private race track. So that, hypothetically, if an unskilled driver did get a bit of carried away and clip a virtual barrier or two, the one consequence can be a deleted lap time. And no person would need to know. More likely, we’ll see it someday on consumer applications, like maps and data displayed on windshields. Who knows: your next BMW may offer you a really different view of the world than you are used to.
