The virtual reality showroom

Shopping for a car... virtually

Jeep’s Visualiser tool allows customers to walk around and discover the company’s new Compass model before it physically arrives in the showrooms. Google’s smartphone augmented reality technology Tango provides the basis for the Visualiser, which was developed with global consultants Accenture and is optimised for the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, the first Tango-enabled consumer device. Tango gives mobile devices the ability to navigate the physical world similar to how we do as humans.

Jeep parent company Fiat Chrysler and Accenture showcased a prototype of this application at the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It provided a first glimpse of how augmented reality could revolutionise shopping. The Visualiser is now available across showrooms in Europe.

HOW IT WORKS

The Visualiser allows car buyers to hold a Tango-enabled device and view, walk around, look inside and configure a lifesize virtual car. External colours and wheel options can be selected and interchanged. Doors can be opened to reveal a realistic and detailed interior; changes to upholstery colours can be made with a tap on the device screen. As the car is viewed through the device, the virtual car moves in relation to how the user moves. Selections will appear in the augmented reality application allowing customers to

visualise the choice in 3D, even though the vehicle is not physically present.

Tango uses computer vision to enable the mobile device to detect its position in the world around it and bridges the gap between the 2D digital and the 3D physical world. This allows the mobile device the ability to map its 360-degree environment and to navigate the physical world similar to how people do.

Accenture Interactive and its digital innovation team led the design of this innovative solution. The app uses the integrated sensor technology and motion tracking, area learning, and depth perception capabilities from Tango to generate the interaction. No GPS or Internet connectivity are needed once the app is installed. It allows for an enhanced user experience tailored specifically for augmented reality.

Lenovo developed the Phab2 Pro to house the Tango technology in a consumer device and to make augmented reality accessible to as many people as possible. The Phab 2 Pro’s 6-inch+ screen, which features QHD resolution, offers a window for customers to experience the car in its life-size virtual dimensions.