“Are we there yet?” What parents wouldn’t give to banish this phrase forever from long car trips, or to have some peace and quiet when driving their family around day-to-day! This was the challenge a team of Valeo software engineers tackled when they developed Valeo Racer, which was unveiled for the first time at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas this year.
Valeo Racer is an in-vehicle, extended reality (XR) game that combines the real-world driving environment and virtual 3D elements to create a unique and immersive experience. Passengers compete against each other, playing on their phones or tablets connected to the car’s WiFi. Players control their race car to get as many points as possible by collecting coins while avoiding obstacles, which includes the other real cars on the road.
Valeo Racer is the first XR video game to combine live video, vehicle environment perception, and digital gaming elements. The infinite runner game is generated by a new software stack developed by Valeo. It uses the vehicle’s existing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), including cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, as well as artificial intelligence perception algorithms to process the car’s real-time environment data through the Unity Runtime to generate game elements.
Unity Runtime is a proprietary component of the Unity Engine that handles various critical components of the game, rendering high-performance graphics, managing user inputs and interactions, coordinating game components, supporting real-time physics simulation, animation, scripting languages, asset management, and networking – all on the end device. By using Runtime, Valeo was able to give passengers the option to to play a mixed reality game with real-time data harnessed from the car’s sensors on their phone or tablet connected with in-vehicle WiFi – and even compete against each other during trips.
Why did an international automotive supplier develop Valeo Racer, beyond just the fun of the game? The automotive landscape is rapidly evolving, from electric vehicles and advanced autonomous functions, to reinventing the driver and passenger experience. In-vehicle entertainment has become an important element of enhancing the user experience.
Valeo CTO Geoffrey Bouquot and Unity’s Nick Facey, managing producer for Unity Industry, got together with Elizabeth Hyman, president and CEO of XR Association, at SXSW for a fireside chat titled “Cruising with Augmented Reality: Exploring Entertainment in Autonomous Cars.”
Bouquot insisted on the limitless possibilities using automotive sensors and software for applications beyond their primary functions.
“By 2030, almost all cars will be equipped with cameras and other sensors. Together with the associated software, these technologies support safety, electrification, and sustainability in the next generations of mobility,” Bouquot said. “Beyond that, it offers a world of opportunities for other applications, such as gaming, education, and so much more. It’s exciting to explore these new frontiers with our partners in automotive, gaming, and other creative industries.”
Facey added, “A lot of the focus has been on the driver, such as bringing car signals into better graphics engines, Unity being one of them. Today, we have really good graphics and real-time information going to the driver to make driving safer, better, more efficient. Now we’re bringing the passengers into that experience. This convergence of technology is almost always a good thing for consumers.”
Valeo is a world leader in automotive sensors and cameras and has also been working with augmented reality for more than 20 years. The parking guidance displays that you see overlaid on your backup camera video feed and your car’s head-up display? Those are AR features developed by Valeo and already available on millions of vehicles. The company’s new XR software development kit will offer game developers the means to create new types of games that utilize a car’s existing onboard cameras, sensors, perception algorithms, and artificial intelligence to reimagine the in-vehicle gaming experience.
“As the leader of the XR Association, the industry trade association for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, I'm always looking for opportunities to identify and showcase the latest advancements and use cases for immersive technology,” Hyman said. “While Valeo Racer is a gaming experience, it is also a platform that will inspire developers to create new products and experiences in a way that marries up the advancements of autonomous vehicles with immersive technology.”
Valeo Racer is not a signal that the automotive tech company is entering the gaming space. Rather, it’s a demonstration of what Valeo’s XR software development kit could bring to the automotive industry, and it’s a proof of concept for a new type of in-car entertainment. As vehicles reach more advanced levels of autonomy, XR will offer even more opportunities to create new experiences for both passengers and drivers.
Learn more about how Unity can help you with your XR project. Missed out on trying the Valeo Racer XR game at SXSW 2024? Here’s what a few people had to say about it.
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