Dentsu Aegis Network’s Carat and Isobar have launched a first-of-its-kind, mixed-reality (MR) dealership for long-standing global client General Motors International (GMI). The MR application provides an augmented dealership experience for consumers, enabling them to virtually experience a car showroom – anywhere and anytime.
Dubbed the V-Showroom, the application merges real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualisations in real-time, by using an overlay of augmented content that interacts with the physical space or reality it is in.
Developed by Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital agency Isobar, the mobile application showcases General Motors’ new Chevrolet Cruze and is the first automotive brand in Asia to use MR at scale for car buyers.
Using an iPad attached with a structural depth sensor, any physical space can be scanned in real-time in order to place a 3D replica of the car, for example on a coffee table, or scaled to life-size.
This platform pushes the boundaries of the typical augmented-reality (AR) experience and aims to simplify and enhance a consumer’s experience when shopping for a car, without physically being in a showroom, especially when a dealership is too small to fit the complete portfolio of car models.
With the V-Showroom tracking and mapping content over the physical environment in real-time, a consumer can be shown how the car’s inbuilt features and technologies work, thereby creating a fully immersive showroom experience. Potential buyers can walk around and even explore the interior of the virtual car, minus the location and size constraints of a typical car showroom.
Launched in May 2017 in 110 GMI dealerships across South Korea, the V-Showroom is available in multiple languages and can be localised for future implementation across more markets.
Mark Harland, Executive Director of Marketing, Holden & General Motors International, commented: “We are excited about V-Showroom and look forward to scaling this even further across other markets and with different models.”
Read about how virtual reality can simplify car shopping in the near future.
