In-vehicle entertainment specialist holoride has partnered with Ford Motor Company and Universal Pictures to create a complimentary in-car VR experience for visitors to the theme park.
Powered by technology from holoride, and set inside new 2020 Ford Explorer vehicles, with advanced connectivity specific for this experience, riders are transported to the mysterious world of the Bride of Frankenstein through newly inspired content created by Universal Monsters in collaboration with immersive specialist, Rewind. This marks holoride’s first offering to the general public following the company’s debut at CES in January 2019. The experience will be offered to guests for a limited time beginning October 14 and running until November 9, 2019.
“We are partnering with Ford and Universal to bring holoride’s immersive, elastic content to the general public,” said Nils Wollny, CEO and co-founder of holoride. “Riders will be able to experience first-hand what the future of in-vehicle entertainment looks like through the lens of the compelling story of the Bride of Frankenstein.”
Riders will step inside a 2020 Ford Explorer from the designated pickup location at Universal CityWalk during hours of operation. Once inside the vehicles, riders buckle their safety belts, put on their VR headset and are joined by a re-imagined, virtual Bride of Frankenstein on a journey to deliver an important message to Frankenstein. Along the way, riders will encounter virtual monsters and obstacles in a fully immersive, virtual reality experience complete with sound effects and visuals that adapt to movement of the car. Holoride uses navigational data along with driving data from the Ford Explorer to adapt the experience to match the movement of the vehicle.
Brett Wheatley, vice president of mobility marketing and Growth at Ford, said, “The connected vehicle technology from Ford can help completely revolutionize what the in-car experience can be, moving us toward never-before-imagined productivity and entertainment in the vehicle. This collaboration allows us to showcase the promise of the connected vehicle and get essential customer feedback on what they want and don’t want in terms of immersive in-car entertainment experiences.”
Greg Reed, vice president, Universal Pictures Technology Partnerships, added, “This partnership with holoride and Ford highlights NBCUniversal’s ongoing commitment to collaborating with the most innovative technology companies and consumer brands to create unique and forward-thinking immersive experiences for our audiences. Building on Universal Pictures’ vast experience in developing award-winning AR and VR content over the last few years, we are excited and inspired as ‘everyday travel’ begins to emerge as a new content platform.”
