Just thinking about using my Meta Quest Pro in a car makes me want to hurl

Date:
Thu, 18 May 2023 11:00:48 +0000

Description:
Meta's Reality Labs and BMW have teamed up to bring VR to your car, and I don't know if I love or hate it.

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Metas Reality Labs and BMW have teamed up to bring car passengers exclusive mixed reality experiences and the idea is already making me feel nauseous.

Using Meta headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro , the pair produced a range of prototype VR experiences from music-based meditation
apps to interactive games, to mobile VR office spaces. Take a VR work meeting from your car (Image credit: Meta / BMW)

Unsurprisingly, making a VR experience work in a car isnt as easy as making the experience work in a regular room. Thats because at least for Quest headsets that rely on the Oculus Insight technology the headsets two main sensors will be picking up conflicting signals.

In a moving vehicle, the cameras rely on reference points inside the vehicle while the inertial motion sensors (IMUs) will determine your movement and acceleration relative to the outside world. That means the cameras might
think youre stationary while the IMUs believe youre moving. (For you science nerds this wouldnt be a problem if the car moved at an exactly constant
speed, but thats not feasible for a real-world vehicle).

To get around this hurdle, the research team used an additional information source: the BMW cars sensor array. This additional IMU data set allows the VR system to accurately determine the Meta Quest Pros position relative to the vehicle. The team has said the next step is accurately to determine the cars location compare to the rest of the world to enable world-locked rendering rather than simply car-locked. This would enable experiences such as virtual tour guides which could highlight landmarks and other points of interest.

Whats more, it looks like the goal is to develop mixed-reality experiences
for not just passengers but drivers too. The mixed-reality system would potentially serve as an alternative to a traditional satnav and dashboard it could provide in-depth directions, warn you of upcoming hazards and traffic, and tell you important information about the vehicle's health. Thanks, I hate it

Despite being a huge fan of VR, I get motion sick surprisingly easily, so
this idea of using VR while in a car sounds like a recipe for disaster. At
the same time, I can see how the productivity and entertainment use cases of the tech could be a massive blessing.

I dont like traveling. I love going to new places, but the act of getting there in a train/plane/automobile isnt that enjoyable I dislike it so much that Ill sometimes sleep to skip through even 10-minute journeys if Im a passenger. If I could have a virtual hangout with my friends, take a guided tour of the surrounding area, or enjoy a cinema-like movie experience I might find the journey much less boring. (Image credit: Meta / BMW)

Unfortunately, I expect my nausea might get in the way looking at my phone
in a moving car for too long can have me feeling worse for wear but I can
see others falling in love with what Reality Labs and BMW have developed.

Itll be a while before any of us can take advantage of these car experiences, however. In the press release Claus Dorrer the Head of BMWs Technology
Office in Mountain View said its too early to tell exactly how or when this technology will make it into customers hands (read: its likely a long way off from public release).

We cant help you find VR experiences to play in a moving vehicle, but we can suggest some of the best Oculus Quest 2 games for you to play at home right now.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/just-thinking-about-using-my-meta-quest-pro-in- a-car-makes-me-want-to-hurl


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