Augmented Reality Automobile Showcase

Video credit #APmedia @APmedia.asia

To choose the most suitable model, most potential buyers look for the necessary information online and on the official websites of auto manufacturers. For consumers, the in-person negotiations and spending the day bouncing from dealership to dealership to test drive cars is an experience that most want to avoid. This is not a complete picture of the potential car purchase, but the vendor cannot see and feel if a particular model is a good fit for the customer.

While getting behind the wheels for a test drive is an unmatchable experience, AR can improve the way dealerships enhance the customer experience. Like so many industries, technology is shaping the auto sector. So when it comes to car-buying, creating connected experiences is key.

With augmented reality applications, dealerships can empower customers at the dealership to test and configure different car features conveniently at the lot. Augmented reality provides a unique way for customers to see and experience technical features in a way that they will easily understand and quickly engage with.

For example, customers can configure the new car according to their own wishes or select the furniture in a style and color they prefer. Without the need of actually displaying all the alternatives.

What’s next for the auto sector? Augmented reality will be increasingly used as a tool in the auto retail industry to improve the customer experience and, ultimately, drive sales.

In this project, we developed a full-fledged marketing and sales tool for automotive dealers. It offers customers more information and certainty when making their purchasing decision, as well as a special wow factor. Our auto showcase experience allows the customer to virtually explore every detail of a car in 3D and 360-degrees, just like in a dealership with real cars.

The aim of our project is to show the functionality that customers would like to see. The users’ journey begins when the camera of a mobile device is focused on an advertising flyer; the smartphone/tablet app allows 3D car visualization on a marker, color changes, doors opening, and turning the lights on and off, and a 360-degree spherical picture view of the interior. The power is in the potential buyer’s hands: they can change the vehicle’s color, explore its panoramic interior, rotate the automobile, or move around the space to view the vehicle from any angle.

Our project is a solution for the automotive industry that is portable, cost efficient and location independent. Whether at an auto show, showroom or sitting at home in the living room, a customer can enter a virtual environment and “test drive” any number of cars and configurations.