Honda announced a new “ Extended Reality Mobility Experience ” debuting at this yr ’s SXSW festival in Austin , where the party will invite attender to strap on a VR headset and shoulder strap into a fancy wheelchair . The future is here , maybe .
The stunt utilise Honda ’s fresh UNI - ONE , a personal mobility gimmick with ego - balancing technology similar to a Segway , which lets riders manoeuver by leaning their bodies in a given direction .
The carmaker is promote the UNI - ONE as a mobility gimmick for people with disabilities , but it seems Honda thinks the wheelchair will be lots of fun for everyone . The company shared images and television of a headset - wearing man riding in the chair with weapon outstretched and a childlike grin .
Photo: Honda
“ With the Honda XR Mobility Experience , we are expanding the pleasure and freedom of personal mobility into entertainment practical app , ” order Hirokazu Hara , a Vice President at Honda America in apress release . “ By aggregate the alone , physical experience of riding the Honda UNI - ONE with extremely immersive digital amusement , Honda is creating a brand young multimodal experience that takes extended reality technologies to the next level . ”
Honda said it envisions the great unwashed participating in the XR Mobility Experience both indoors and out of doors in “ obstacle - liberal spaces , ” including theme parks , amusement facilities , entrepot , and shopping malls . The promise is a “ take your VR adventure ” where you ’ll be able to “ go through the peaceful touch of float in the sky or the exhilarating touch sensation of gliding along a half - pipe path , ” the company wrote . “ Honda also believe that UNI - ONE can be used as a mobility gimmick in XR game , such as a racing game where players use their custody while move freely or a game in which players postdate sure routes . ”
The company is n’t the first to deal sum more physical social movement to VR play . For example , researchers unveiled aDance Dance Revolution vogue matthat countenance actor unravel around in practical space by lifting their legs up and down with a motility that , one has to admit , looks like a child who take a bathroom go . Other experiments includetreadmills that simulate walkingin any direction , making VR game all the more immersive . Last year , this newsman strapped on aVR headset in the back of a BMWwith a troupe that promised the first drive in the “ metaverse for railroad car . ”
add a wheelchair to the intermixture is an unexpected and astronomically expensive addition to the mix . But you may see the prayer of riding around what ’s basically a little car . At first glimpse , however , Honda ’s vision leaves a little to be desired . The promotional video features glitchy low systema skeletale - charge per unit computer graphic and game that look about as tedious as can be .
Hondasegway
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