Holoride Hands-On: VR in the Car Is Like a Disney Ride
Virtual Reality Gaming
Speaker 1: All right, I'm getting an early look at a new form of in-car entertainment. It's called Hollow Ride, and it's VR for the backseat passenger. You put the VR headset on, and it's supposed to match what you see in the headset to what the driver is doing. So if the driver turns, you're turning, and hopefully your stomach doesn't turn. Let's see what this is all about. Am I gonna throw up? It's coming to Audi vehicles next year. It'll [00:00:30] be first in Germany, then it's coming to the us. This is a package with a VR headset and a subscription to games and content. So the team from Hollow Ride has visited New York to show us what it's like. Let's
Speaker 2: See.
Speaker 1: All right, so here's the HTC VI Flow headset that is part of this program. We have it connected here to be [00:01:00] able to capture what I'm seeing inside for you guys. This is pretty lightweight. All right, I'm now seeing the Game Cloud Breaker. All right, I'm ready for my controls. Here they come. All right. All right. We just hit start. Oh, it's loading. Oh, boy's. Oh boy. Did I put it on too soon? <laugh>? No, it's perfect. Okay. All right. So start game <inaudible> <laugh>. Why am [00:01:30] I nervous? <laugh> Okay. Oh, oh, we're turning am my guys turning <laugh>. Uh, this is, you know, this is reminding me of like, uh, like would this be like a Disney ride where it moves with the screen? All right. Oh, Oh, I gotta fight these guys. You're ships. Ah, ah, take, take that. I, I, I don't know what I'm doing. Take that <laugh>.
Speaker 1: Okay. So we're stopped right now, and the environment around me stopped. And [00:02:00] as you're going, it's going. This is okay. Oh, this is interesting. You know, having it be a, um, a shoot 'em up in the sky and having a little bit of turbulence as you drive on rough New York City roads <laugh> fits pretty well. I was always a child that could not read in the back seat, or I cannot watch my phone when I'm in a taxi in New York. Um, or I get a little bit queasy. And so I was nervous about this <laugh>, but [00:02:30] taking it slow. So far so good. I am feeling a little bit of the like, Oh, we're, I, I could feel what the car is doing, but it's interesting having it match a little bit and having him turn right now is, oh, like, I'm thinking like, Oh, no.
Speaker 1: Oh, no. Am I not gonna do well? But so far, I'm not, I'm not getting the urge to take the headset off. And the controls are so basic that like anyone could pick it up who's your passenger, and not have to have a long tutorial to figure it out. You, [00:03:00] you kind of forget what the driver is doing. You feel the car moving, but your brain is kind of into this, like, get the space ships kind of mission. But I don't think I'd wanna go along anyways on this. Come on. I actually kinda wanna see, I kinda wanna see where my <laugh> <laugh>. There are a lot of, um, uh, sensory things happening. Like, sure, you see a video game in front of you where you're flying, but the have it stop when you feel like you're being stopped, um, is [00:03:30] an extra layer. I, I think I've only really experienced in those kind of simulator rides at theme parks.
Speaker 1: So it's not just an open world where when the driver turns you're turning, it's actually more detailed than that, where the information it's getting knows the layout of the land. It knows where buildings are in New York City, where a street light is coming up. So around you, it might have some mountain where a [00:04:00] building is, but it'll have a dip where you could possibly turn. So without knowing what the driver's gonna do, it has created these environments based on where you're at. So let's talk about the price. Right now. Hollow Ride is sold as a bundle. It's 699 euros in Germany, and I'm told it should be priced about the same when it arrives in the US next year. So look at about $700 as the price tag, and that's gonna get you the HCC vibe flow with a game controller [00:04:30] and one year access to all the hollow ride programming and games. Now at Launch, this hollow ride experience is only compatible with about a dozen Audi vehicles, but that could expand over time. The headset is Bluetooth connected to the car, so it gets data on acceleration, braking, steering, and location mapping. Haul rides, CEO and co-founder NIS Wooley told me it has come a long way since it started development several years ago.
Speaker 3: So the reaction [00:05:00] on what we are building changed over the years. Back in 2015, people said, You guys are nuts. People get vr, sick, people get car sick. Now you're combining this. And, uh, it was a very early prototype, but people, when they tried, it was like, Okay, there's something to it. And at the time where immersive technologies got more familiar, um, the, the perception changed a lot. And since everybody's talking about the metaverse, uh, suddenly the motor verse is a very relevant use [00:05:30] case. And, uh, the craziness, uh, of the first days basically disappeared.
Speaker 1: All right? I took my first car ride with VR and, sorry, disappoint you. I didn't get nauseous, <laugh>. Um, it turned this skeptic into a believer. Then again, it was a short amount of time, but they told me that it was actually longer than I thought. So time was passing pretty quickly. I did not feel compelled to move my head around. I was good just being straightforward, because once [00:06:00] the car starts turning and you're looking the other way, you can kind of feel that doesn't feel so great. But they made these environments where you could just stay forward and play your little game, doing your mindless little activity. It's not bad. It's pretty mellow and chill. You kind of get in a zone. It immediately did something. As soon as there was a turn, as soon as there was a stop, uh, it it, it reacted very quickly.
Speaker 1: And that was kind of, that was kind of cool, you know, having these extra, uh, sensory experiences. I can imagine. I wanna roll [00:06:30] the windows down, have the wind blow in my hair, and really feel like I'm, you know, flying. So that headset, the HTC Vibe flow, uh, keep in mind that is part of the bundle you buy, but you can use that headset at home. It's not attached to the car. It's not special for the car. In fact, the idea is that eventually you could just take the headset you own and bring it in the car with you. Now, of course, when they're selling this, when they're launching this, they made it an easy package with the headset that automatically works with these new Audi vehicles. And [00:07:00] after a year, there is a subscription service. So it's gonna be $20 a month, or if you buy for the whole year, it'll come out to a little cheaper, about $15 a month or so.
Speaker 1: Aside from the game, there was another demo where I got to see, uh, whatever was on his phone screen mirror. But let me just tell you, it, it didn't do it for me. For me, it was about the game. I really didn't care to be in that world and watch a video in 2D with everything kind of moving around me. Nah, nah, I'm good. Go. [00:07:30] I wanna go back to the game. <laugh>, the game was distracting. It was a lot more fun and time passed more. Uh, so they got something special there with the game. I have two young kids and I can't help but think that when they become teenagers or we gonna be living in this world where they're in the back seat in VR headsets, because that's what this demo really showed me. It's possible. I laughed when I first got pitched this thinking, Goodness, I'm gonna go in the back seat and being VR is this nuts, am [00:08:00] I gonna get sick?
Speaker 1: Especially in New York City traffic. But I think they passed the test, at least for short of bits. I don't think I would be in a headset for long anyways. And that's really something to remember. Everyone's gonna be different on their tolerance for vr. I don't have a very high tolerance for vr, and I was okay with this. Then again, I'm in it for what, about 10, 15 minutes. I could see this being really key in long road trips, uh, or having relaxing [00:08:30] environments. So maybe you wanna put on that headset, see something calming, help put yourself to sleep. That headset's really light. It works for this kind of situation. It's not like the Quest too, where you have a big pack you're putting on. I just wouldn't do work. Don't, don't, don't make me do Zoom calls and VR in the backseat. I, I'd appreciate that.
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't need that. So they're gonna first launch this hollow ride in Germany, and it's coming to America early next year, early 2023. And they say [00:09:00] they have more news that they're about to announce soon. So you gotta wonder, are we gonna hear more about different cars it'll be compatible with, or what kind of other games and content they'll have? Uh, there's a lot of potential here. You just wanna know, Well, what else are we gonna see? Because if you're gonna subscribe to a service, you want there to be good content and you wanted to work with a lot of cars, I gave hello, right? A try. Would you let me know in the comments what you think? Thanks for watching. Until next time.
