Racing a Ghost

Last month Honda released a video of their new Civic Type R racing against a virtual (Forza 7 Motorsports) version of the car.  We’re not sure if the actual race happened in real time and there was some obvious post-production in the video, but nonetheless it was cool and has already wracked up over 7 million views on YouTube.  Aside from being a clever cross promotion, what impressed us most at ATM was the “mixed reality windshield” they installed on the physical Type R.

Photo Credit: Honda YouTube Channel

Head-up displays are fairly common on vehicles these days, typically tucked into a small area on the windshield directly behind the steering wheel.  The technology is meant to keep drivers focused on the road and usually offers simple features like trip directions and vehicle speed, but Honda is showing us just how far we can take this.

Being a firm that develops Augmented Reality experiences, the team at ATM can really appreciate the benefits of augmenting a driver’s field of view with useful information and we are excited to see where this goes.

Photo Credit: Honda YouTube Channel

So the question is, have Honda and Forza given us a glimpse into what driving could look like in the near future or was this just a fun promotional video?  I’m hopeful for the former.

Check out the mixed reality race for yourself.