Our second go with the BMW M2 Mixed Reality took place last week at the BMW Driving Academy just outside Munich. Once again, the new BMW M2 was at our disposal to try this new mix of virtual reality and real life driving. In this new video, you can experience the BMW M2 with a high-grade VR headset – priced at around 7,000 euros.
The new G87 BMW M2 was placed on an empty race track but what we saw through the headset was a digital racetrack. The goal was to drive through it, collected BMW tokens and stop in a digital box. But in reality, we were actually driving and even sliding the new BMW M2, with a safety engineer in the passenger seat. So this is BMW’s idea of Mixed Reality, essentially the best of both worlds.
Of course, the VR headset delivers 4K graphics which look extremely realistic. Furthermore, the VR headset adjusts its video quality by tracking where your eyes are looking and there is virtually no distinguishable lag. The VR headset is tied to a consumer-grade gaming computer placed in the trunk of the BMW M2. Next, the headset is also connected to a Smart Tracking device sitting on the dashboard which monitors the head’s movements.
Alex, Kuttner, the engineer in charge of the Mixed Reality project, says that the system essentially uses all the “motion” data from the car. So any movement created by the new M2, it’s being captured and used by the Mixed Reality software. So what’s the advantage in that? Pretty simple: You won’t get dizzy like with most VR experiences.
As you can see in the video below, as I was driving the BMW M2, I could see my own hands and the “real” dashboard controls. However, the passenger side, from the A-pillar back, and the rear of the cabin are all digitally enhanced. So naturally, this is quite a unique experience and it takes time to build confidence in the system. But once you do, the driving experience rivals, if not exceeds, the best…
