Honda's Dream Drive VR experience may be the future of in-car entertainment

By Miles Branman January 4, 2017

Honda DreamDrive Virtual Reality Demo

From the automaker that believes in the “Power of Dreams,” a partnership has been formed with the studio that puts a trademark on the concept. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), currently being held in Las Vegas, Honda has announced a collaboration with DreamWorks Animation to demo augmented and virtual reality from the passenger’s seat.

CES attendees will be able to test Honda Dream Drive in-car VR simulator that incorporates DreamWorks animation. As is shown in the accompanying video, Trolls movie characters will ride along with you as part of a studio tour — whether you find that terrifying or not is a different question.

The project will mate live telematics data with in-vehicle entertainment, education, and information while the car is in motion. To be clear, the practical use of this technology at present would be for passengers in Honda cars. However, once autonomous technology assumes driving responsibility, even the designated driver could participate.

“Entertainment in the car is rapidly changing as consumers rely more and more on personal devices and Honda sees new opportunities to create unique experiences for our customers,” said John Moon, developer relations lead at Honda Developer Studio. “The collaboration with DreamWorks enables Honda to enhance the in-vehicle experience through new ways of delivering information and entertainment.”

“We see the cabin of an automobile as an untapped platform for delivering entertaining and educational experiences to consumers,” said DreamWorks Animation’s Chief Animation Technology Officer Jeff Wike. “Working with Honda has enabled us to bring our collective talent together to explore and identify opportunities in adapting and creating new forms of consumer engagement.”

This type of virtual or augmented reality content could preview the future of mobile entertainment, where all passengers engage in a connected, interactive experience as their car zips toward its destination.

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