VR in a Car: Holoride Launches Today. I Tested It and Didn't Lose My Lunch - CNET

Playing VR games successful the backmost spot of a moving car sounds similar a motion-sickness disaster. And yet, the institution down Holoride has recovered a mode to marque it work, and is present selling its archetypal VR amusement packages to customers successful Germany, with enlargement to the US marketplace planned for aboriginal adjacent year.

I had a accidental to instrumentality the programme for a rotation past week successful New York. Sitting successful the backseat of an Audi SUV, I wore an HTC Vive Flow headset arsenic the squad from Holoride picked maine up from my Manhattan bureau and drove maine astir the East Village vicinity for astir 20 minutes. 

The demo was for crippled called Cloudbreaker, wherever I was transported into a conflict crushed successful the entity to occurrence astatine force abstraction ships, passing by gangly buildings that look similar past ruins poking retired of the clouds. The headset was Bluetooth connected to the car, with the crippled gathering information successful existent clip astir the vehicle's acceleration, breaking, steering and GPS determination -- each truthful the virtual satellite could lucifer however the car was moving. 

So erstwhile the operator turned, my vessel turned. And it was synced successful a mode that, thankfully, meant my tummy didn't turn. 

You tin spot my reactions and however it each works successful the video embedded above. As idiosyncratic who gets easy question sick whenever I glimpse astatine my telephone successful a taxi, the crippled didn't consciousness atrocious -- past again, my crippled demo wasn't precise long. It reminded maine of a taxable parkland question simulator, wherever the on-screen enactment would lucifer each determination of my vehicle.

Holoride sees VR arsenic the aboriginal of backseat entertainment.

Richard Peterson/CNET

It was astir comfy if I conscionable looked guardant astir of the time. If I looked near erstwhile my operator turned right, that would instrumentality maine to queasy town. 

The Holoride squad besides gave maine a demo of a diagnostic that lets you ticker Netflix oregon YouTube videos successful the headset, with a movie surface conscionable benignant of floating successful a VR scenery that matched the question of the car. But that was a no-go for maine -- it rapidly triggered atrocious feelings truthful I took disconnected the headset. I wasn't digging watching video. Get maine backmost to the games. 

Holoride is based successful Germany, and is simply a spinoff of Audi. The archetypal Holoride demo was revealed astatine the 2019 CES tech commercialized amusement successful Las Vegas. The institution has launched immoderate aboriginal experiences to trial this with the wide public, including working with Universal CityWalk successful Hollywood to instrumentality guests connected a thrust with the Bride of Frankenstein to find her love. But contiguous is the archetypal clip Holoride's tech is being sold straight to the nationalist truthful they tin acquisition it anyplace they roam. 

Holoride CEO and co-founder Nils Wollny spoke with maine astir however the bundle does much than conscionable lucifer turning near and right. The VR satellite loads otherwise depending wherever you're located, matching your existent landscape. A upland successful the crippled whitethorn beryllium a gathering successful existent life. And a dip successful scenery whitethorn beryllium a spot wherever the operator could perchance turn. 

The Holoride acquisition is presently being sold arsenic a packaged deal. For 699 euros successful Germany (and Wollny says it should beryllium likewise priced for the US, costing $699 astatine motorboat adjacent year), you get the HTC Vive Flow VR headset, an 8BitDo Pro 2 crippled controller, and a one-year subscription to the Holoride level of bundle and games -- and astatine the commencement it's lone compatible with newer Audi cars. 

It remains to beryllium seen however ample that room of contented volition beryllium aft that archetypal year, erstwhile Holoride plans to complaint a $20 monthly subscription to entree its content. The institution says the terms volition beryllium if you wage for the full twelvemonth upfront.

It's worthy noting that adjacent if the Holoride contented doesn't instrumentality off, the Vive Flow headset and crippled controller that comes successful the bundle volition inactive enactment similar immoderate VR headset. It's not locked to the car. 

Holoride volition person to physique the conception into Holoride bundle for it to enactment connected aggregate types of headsets and beryllium compatible with aggregate car systems. Could we soon perceive astir it moving with different types of cars? CEO Wollny said we tin expect much Holoride quality to beryllium revealed successful January astatine CES 2023.