Microsoft and VW team up to bring augmented reality into cars — not just your car

Microsoft works with Volkswagen To bring augmented reality to cars via the new “Moving Platform” mode for Hololens 2.

Neither company goes into exact details of how this will work, but there are some indications of what to expect. Microsoft, for example, said the “moving platform” could be used to train drivers how to handle adverse road conditions.

This is not about training drivers every day. Instead, focus, as with everything else in the HoloLens 2 . orbitis business and enterprise, which means that this platform can be used to train, for example, fleet drivers.

Enhanced with 3D models

Looking at prototype images, the mode works by placing 3D models inside and outside the vehicle. You can only see it by wearing a HoloLens 2 Mixed Reality helmet. To navigate you will have a map of the route actually placed on top of the dashboard with an arrow pointing to where you want to go.

The HoloLens 2 It will also display a 3D pedestrian warning at crosswalks to tell you to be careful of people. It will even tell you the temperature inside the car.

Microsoft tested the Moving Platform prototype by having Volkswagen researchers associate one of its vehicles with HoloLens. The Volkswagen team then worked with Microsoft, providing feedback on how the HoloLens Moving Platform could be improved.

This update depends on Microsoft’s current offering of the Moving Platform, which are supposed to be used on ships in the ocean. Ocean waves can disable the HoloLen 2, so the mode stabilizes the display of the device.

Microsoft doesn’t stop with cars and boats. There are plans to bring its mobile platform to “…elevators and trains, [and] other moving environments.

Rescue HoloLens

This new partnership with Volkswagen could be a way to breathe new life into the HoloLens project. I’ve been going through a turbulent time lately.

Back in early February 2022, HoloLens 3 has been cancelled. The problem was that no one knew the purpose of the headset, which may be the reason for some members of the HoloLens 3 Ship jumped To work with Meta on its metaverse projects.

With the Moving Platform Volkswagen partnership, though, Microsoft is cementing the goal of HoleLens 2 as a mixed reality tool for training and virtual information in a growing range of workplace scenarios. One can only hope that the HoloLens headphones and mobile platform will one day end up in educational classes for high school drivers, too.