Category: Nissan

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Nissan Engages Customers with Star Wars AR Experience

A number of car manufacturers and retailers have turned to immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), not only for the design and manufacturing areas, but also to improve customer engagement in the sales area. Nissan are attempting to combine AR with Star Wars to promote its latest range of cars.

The Nissan AR experience will showcase the enhanced safety features present in Nissan’s current vehicle range by using Star Wars characters. Star Wars is one of the most successfully franchises ever created, and anticipation is high with fans eagerly awaiting the upcoming new film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Nissan are hoping to harness that excitement to bring in new customers.

Soon, Nissan dealerships across America will feature an AR experience titled ‘See the Unseen’. Customers at a dealerships will be able to put use a special AR device to select a Nissan Rogue, Maxima or TITAN to activate the experience. Various Star Wars characters will then appear to help visually demonstrate safety technologies that are usually not visible, such as Nissan’s Automatic Emergency Braking, Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Warning and the Intelligent Around View Monitor.

“In our collaboration with Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we have brought ‘Retail Theater’ to Nissan showrooms and found exciting ways to engage customers with a new world of technology,” said Jeremy Tucker, vice president of Marketing for Nissan North America. “While the competition is focused on Santa Claus and red bows this holiday season, we are filling our dealerships with stormtroopers, Virtual Reality and the new Augmented Reality Experience, making the Nissan shopping experience much more fun, engaging and educational.”

The experience will be rolled out in Nissan showrooms across the US in December, 2017.

“Driver assist technologies can seem like fantasy to consumers and can be intimidating to those who are unfamiliar. With the help of the beloved characters from Star Wars and the ‘See the Unseen’ augmented reality technology, we are able to explain Nissan Intelligent Mobility in a way that is relatable and fun,” said Tucker.

VRFocus will continue to report on new and innovative applications of AR technology.

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Fix BB8 And Pals In A New Star Wars VR Game Made By ILMxLAB

Whether you’re in the highest of high places or camped out in the dustiest of dustbowl planets in the back of some uncharted system technology will always fail you. It’s a great equaliser. And what are you going to need when it does go wrong? Someone to fix it all up. Whether you’re in the middle of  a war (the sort involving clones and separatist robots), running the first Galactic Empire, a fledgling rebellion or some sort of new ‘order’ you’re all in the same situation when the aircon doesn’t work, the deathstick machine is busted or you have to dump your cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship because your hyperdrive has a transponder loose.
Not that you want to be selling anyone any deathsticks anyway. You should go home and rethink your life if so.

No, in all of these situations you’re going to need a mechanic – unless you and some Wookie are really going to fix that hyperdrive? Yeah, I’m sure that’ll work out great. For the Resistance there’s likewise always, always, a need for a good skilled mechanic. After all, those astromechs do have a tendency to blow a gasket over the most trivial of things. That or they get shot. They have been known to get shot. Particularly the brave ones.

In a new virtual reality (VR) game from ILMxLAB and Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay — Astro-Mechanic for the Resistance, you will take on the role of said mechanic (more specifically an astromech technician) as it attempts to fix the likes of everyone’s favourite spherical droid BB8 of various faults and maladies.  The videogame, connected to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, (StarWars.com refers to it as “the official VR experience” connected to the film) is an immersive experience that will work on both the HTC Vive and the Samsung Gear VR. However, there is a catch.

Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay is made in partnership with car manufacturer Nissan and will be coming to “select dealerships” in North America (U.S, Mexico, Canada). No information was given regarding a general release or a release to any other markets such as Europe and Asia. You can see some screenshots below.

There’s more still to come with regards to this and VRFocus will bring you that informtaion as we get it.