Volvo Cars has revealed that it will be working together with Microsoft to jointly develop the next generation of automotive technologies.
The initial focus of the partnership will be using Microsoft HoloLens, the world’s first fully untethered holographic computer, to redefine the way customers first encounter and explore a car, as well as how cars might be bought and sold in future.
A demonstration conducted at Microsoft’s global headquarters in Redmond, USA, showcased how mixed reality could be used in the future by customers to configure cars in three dimensions.
“HoloLens offers the freedom to create a bespoke experience which customers can steer themselves. Imagine using mixed reality to choose the type of car you want – to explore the colours, rims, or get a better understanding of the features, services and options available,” said Björn Annwall, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Service, Volvo Cars.
He also added that HoloLens technology might liberate dealers from more traditional sales environments and allow them to take a car configurator out on the road in small pop-up stores, shopping malls or on the high street, opening up new sales channels and introducing cars to a far larger potential audience.
Areas of future collaboration between the two companies could include autonomous driving technologies and the utilisation of data generated from connected cars to create new services. Other areas of cooperation are expected to include how information gathered by cars and their drivers can be used to enhance the driving experience and the possibility of using predictive analytics to improve safety.
Volvo Cars has also announced a programme called Drive-Me in which 100 self-driving and connected cars will be given to customers to take out on real roads around the Swedish city of Gothenburg by 2017. When executed, this will become the world’s largest autonomous driving experiment.