Skip to main content

Configure your digital Audi in real time with the Audi Virtual Reality Experience

Anyone who’s played a racing video game in recent years has certainly used a good amount of that play time intricately customizing their rides, giving it a virtual walk-around, and basking in the interior details from the cockpit view before setting out for a drive. Audi wants to bring a similar experience to shoppers, allowing them to explore and configure vehicles with the Audi Virtual Reality Experience.

Using the Samsung Gear VR, an accessory that turns a Galaxy Note 4 smartphone into a virtual reality headset, the experience gives customers a way to customize and browse Audi vehicles from a first person perspective. This essentially brings a virtual show floor to the customer, and not the other way around, either being accessible from home or at a mall kiosk.

To give you an idea of how detailed the virtual reality experience is, Audi states that takes around 30 million renderings to show off every configuration of the Audi A3, including the Sportback and S3 models. Audi can even record a virtual test drive of the vehicle with one of its engineers, putting customers in the passenger seat and letting them look around while the driver explains the dynamics of the car.

This isn’t the first time Audi has dabbled in providing a virtual shopping environment. In 2012, the automaker launched Audi City in London, where customer service representatives help customers select and configure cars on various touch pads and ceiling-to-floor monitors. These are ideal for Audi to set up shop in any town where space is at a premium, forgoing the need for floorspace to accommodate show models.

Don’t think that Audi is abandoning traditional dealerships, however, as they recognize nothing beats the real thing. It’s more of a supplement to the premium car buying experience. No mention of where or when the virtual reality experience will appear, but the program has been piloted in Brazil for over a year, so we can imagine that we’ll be seeing headset setups across Europe and the U.S. sooner than later.

Editors' Recommendations

Alexander Kalogianni
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Alex K is an automotive writer based in New York. When not at his keyboard or behind the wheel of a car, Alex spends a lot of…
Alpine sale: Up to $160 off speakers and subs for your car
alpine speaker sale crutchfield march 2024 car and amp setup on table

If you’re looking to kit your car out with some superior speakers or a subwoofer, Crutchfield is the place to go today. Right now, there’s a huge sale on Alpine subwoofers and speakers with nearly 50 different items forming the sale. As there are so many options, the best idea is to hit the button below to see what’s around. If you don’t know where to start though, read on while we take you through some great items in the sale.

What to shop for in the Alpine sale
Buying the best aftermarket car speakers are important for anyone who spends a lot of time on the road and is currently dealing with a mediocre sound system. One good starting point in the Alpine sale is the 2-way speakers for $104 instead of $130. You get two 2-way speakers with a polypropylene/glass fiber/mica woofer with a specialized rubber surround. There’s a one-inch silk dome tweeter with speakers able to handle up to 80 watts RMS with 240 watts peak power. The grilles aren’t included but the factor ones should be fine for most purposes.

Read more
Mercedes to trial humanoid robots for ‘low-skill, repetitive, demanding’ jobs
Apptronik's Apollo robot at work in an auto plant.

Humanoid robots have been coming on leaps and bounds in recent years, and some major companies are starting to take note.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, has just entered into an agreement with Texas-based robotics specialist Apptronik to collaborate on identifying applications for highly advanced robots that the auto giant could deploy. The deal will involve a trial that will see Apptronik's Apollo humanoid robot work alongside Mercedes' human workers on the factory floor.

Read more
Hyundai Ioniq 9: price, release date, range, and more
Hyundai Ioniq 9 Front

Hyundai has been at the forefront of EV development for a while now, largely thanks to the success of the crossover-sized Hyundai Ioniq 5. But the company is readying another new EV that could be even more popular than the Ioniq 5 -- or at least more desirable in the U.S., the land of big cars.

The upcoming Ioniq 9, previously set to be called the Ioniq 7, will be Hyundai's take on an electric SUV. It will be to Hyundai what the Kia EV9 is to Kia. It will have three rows and carry over design elements from the Ioniq 5.

Read more